


Home

by Artofskating



Series: Home series [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Autistic Frisk, Chara Redemption, Child Abuse, FUCK YOU LINDA, Family, Friendship, Gen, Heavy Angst, Homophobia, Houseplant Flowey, Murder, Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk, PTA Sans, Past Child Abuse, Selectively Mute Frisk, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Harm, Suicide, Transphobia, past self-harm, you're only related to two of these tags but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-05-07 15:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 81
Words: 148,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5462408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artofskating/pseuds/Artofskating
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 2030. The monsters are now aboveground, freed by the then nine year old, now 11 year old Frisk. Everyone's pretty happy. Papyrus is taking regular cooking lessons, Toriel's a teacher. And Sans? He's happy, finally. The nightmares have stopped, and he has an amazing wife and is an awesome dunkle to Frisk. But one day, he goes to tuck in said child, and finds a nasty surprise...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A nasty surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in a post-genocide, true pacifist ending in which the player chooses to stay with Toriel. This is my first work on AO3, so thank you so much for reading!

"Sans? Do you think you could do me a favor?" The short skeleton looked up at the feminine goat.

"Sure, Tori. What is it?"

"I have a PTA meeting tomorrow evening, but I need to stay here and grade papers." Toriel explained, nodding towards the pile of papers on the desk. Since becoming a teacher, they had been fairly busy.

"Of course." Sans replied, putting down the newspaper he had been reading, and sitting up from his relaxed position on the couch. "What do I do?"

"Oh, you just talk about issues with the school. Everyone brings food and it should be a relaxed environment. The kids come too."

"Should be?" Sans frowned at Toriel's tone.

"The other parents like to gossip and talk trash a lot." Toriel explained.

"Well, that shouldn't be too much a problem." Sans said, smiling. "You know how I am. If they have a bone to pick with me, I'll deal with it." Toriel held back a laugh at the pun.

"Alrighty. Do you want to say goodnight to Frisk? I just gave them some cinnamon-butterscotch pie, so be careful where you step."

"Sounds good." Sans stood up and walked up the stairs. To his surprise, the kid was sitting at the window.

"Kiddo, what-"

"Oh, hello there, Sansy~" Sans paused at the familiar sickly sweet voice.

"It's you." Sans said, feeling the cold blue magic pool into his head. He quickly manipulated Chara's gravity to pin her to the ceiling. "What are you doing here!? What the hell did you do to Frisk, you spawn of Satan!?"

"I did nothing. Frisk sold their soul to me in order to restore the world after I destroyed it." Chara smiled sadistically. "You remember that runthrough, right? I know you're aware of SAVE and RESET."

"Yes, I do." Sans replied tensely. "What of it?"

"You see, after Frisk killed Asgore in that runthrough, I was spawned."

"Spawned? You really are the child of the devil." Sans replied.

"Whatever. It's not like you're innocent either. What about those poor almagates?" Sans slammed the child into the ground.

"Don't you dare bring that up!" Sans yelled.

"Sans? What's going on up there?" Toriel asked. Sans could hear her walking up the stairs.

"Toriel, I went to say goodnight to Frisk and there was this...this thing here instead!"

Toriel walked in, and paled at the sight of Chara.

 "Chara? Is that really you?" Toriel asked.

"Of course it is, mom~" Chara giggled.

"She tried to kill me before." Sans explained.

"Hey, watch the pronouns there, Sansy. I go by they/them, just like Frisk. Oh wait, they're gone! Just like everyone else will be~" Chara giggled.

"That's enough!" Sans slammed Chara into the ground over and over, until he started to feel the strain from using his powers.

"With the last of my powers..." Sans panted. "Bring back Frisk!" He used the last of his magic strength, which was more than he had ever used at once, to slam Chara into the ground. There was a blinding light, and both skeleton and goat had to look away. When they looked back, there were two kids- Both were small, 11-year old children, one wearing blue and magenta pajamas and the other wearing a green and yellow t-shirt and black pants.

"Did ya really think I'd leave? Here's Frisk. Are ya happy?" Chara snapped.

"Frisk!" Toriel went to hug the human child.

"Why did you come in the first place?" Sans demanded, not even being able to summon a bit of magic.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted." Chara nonchalantly looked at Toriel. "After Frisk killed Asgore in that no mercy run, I was spawned. I destroyed that SAVE and Frisk sold me their soul to get it all back."

"So, you can SAVE..." Sans muttered.

"Did I say that? I can only destroy SAVES, Sansy."

"Stop calling me that." Sans retorted.

"Nope. Now that I know it bothers ya, I'm gonna keep calling ya that~" Sans gritted his teeth as Chara laughed.

"Great. We're here with a killer now." Sans muttered, stroking his chin.

"Oh don't worry. I'm not gonna kill anyone." Chara said, suddenly dropping the sweet attitude. Their voice was colder than ice. "Sans. I promise I won't kill anyone. There's too many consequences here in the overworld. I can't get away with it as easily."

"Oh joy." Sans replied sarcastically. "Well, you've gotta prove it to all of us. Prove that you won't kill anyone." 

"And how am I supposed to do that, Sansy?" Chara asked.

Sans stroked his chin in thought.

***

"YOU ARE NOT BRINGING THEM TO THE PTA MEETING, SANS." Toriel whisper-yelled at Sans. They had brought Chara downstairs after putting Frisk back to bed.

"Why not? I think it's a good idea." Sans shrugged.

"They could kill the PTA members! Then Frisk would get kicked out. Would you be happy with that? If  Frisk got kicked out?"

"Hey, ya know, I'm supposed to take care of Frisk." Chara spoke up.

"Yeah, sure." Sans muttered.

"I am sure. Mentally and physically, I'm supposed to protect Frisk because they are mine. I possessed them, and ya have to take care of your body, ya know? So, I have to take actions for the well-being of Frisk. Which means, I can't do anything that'll get 'em kicked out of school. Or else I'll die."

Sans and Toriel looked at each other.

_Can we trust them? Toriel_ signed.

_Probably. What would be the point of lying?_ Sans signed back.

"I can read sign language, you know." Chara muttered.

"Alright. Chara, we're going to trust that you are telling the truth." Toriel said. "But, we need to test it. It would be in Frisk's best interests if you listened and followed our rules. You must let us know where ever you are going. You cannot go in the kitchen unless Sans or I are with you."

"Alrighty." Chara shrugged. "And no hurting anyone, I assume?"

"Yep." Toriel had a stony expression on her face.

"Alright, sounds good." Chara shrugged. They grabbed their necklace- it was a heart-shaped locket, Sans noticed- and fiddled with it a bit.

***

Why is Chara here? Frisk signed to Sans.

"Chara is proving something to Tori and I. If they can prove that they won't hurt anyone, they can stay for now. But if not..." Sans felt his sockets go blank. "T h e y 'r e  g o i n g  t o  h a v e  a  b a d  t i m e ."

"Yep. Exactly that." Chara added, seemingly bored. "Not like I haven't already had one."

Frisk fiddled with their hands in their lap, rubbing their fingers along their leg. Sans could tell the human was a little uncomfortable, but Chara seemed to sense it as well, as they winced and stopped talking. The drive to the school was quiet, but Sans secretly enjoyed it. He decided it was better for everyone's sake if he focused on the road rather than on the satanic killer in the backseat. He hadn't wanted to drive, but Toriel had pointed out that he couldn't use a shortcut with both Chara and Frisk. He didn't like the feeling of being of being in complete control of a block of metal that could easily kill someone if he wasn't careful. Finally, they were at the school, and Chara got out and held the door open for Frisk.

_Thank you._ Frisk signed as they got out.

"No problem." Chara said out loud, holding the butterscotch pie that Toriel had made for the meeting.

_Oh, and also._ Frisk signed, grimacing. _Don't eat the lemon bars if they have sugar all over them. Those taste like crap. Eat the ones that don't._

"Got it." Chara nodded. "Can you tell us about some of the parents?"

_Well, there's Gloria, and her kid Stella. She hasn't been in a while because she recently had a baby, but she drops off Stella with some lemon bars. Gloria makes the good ones. There's also-_ Frisk paused in their signing as a woman walked past.

"Excuse me, are you here for the PTA meeting?" The woman speaking was darker-skinned. She had brown hair and eyes, and seemed to have a child the same age as the two of them hanging onto her.

_Jamal!_ Frisk signed, seeing the boy. He looked similar to his mother, but he had very bright blue eyes rather than brown. The boy smiled and signed back,

_Frisk! How are you?_  The two started a conversation in sign language.

"Yes, we are." Sans smiled. "I'm here in place of Toriel."

"Oh, nice to meet you! My name is Iris, and that's my son Jamal. Normally Aadila would come too, but she had to work a late shift." Iris explained.

"Ah, that's fine." Sans smiled. "I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton."

"Who's this? Toriel normally brings Frisk, but I've never seen her before." Iris nodded at Chara.

"I'm Chara. I'm Frisk's sibling!" Chara quickly bluffed. "I'm homeschooled normally, but I might transfer here, which is why I'm here."

"Oh, nice to meet you to, Chara!" Iris smiled. "Jamal, let's go show them where to go!" The boy stopped mid sentence and ran to his mother, Frisk following suit. They walked to the cafeteria, where they could hear the sound of children and adults chattering. As they walked in, they saw three women- One was a ginger with glasses, one was with a 'soccer mom' haircut, and one with blonde hair and makeup that did not look good at all, and two men, one with messy black hair, and one with a manbun(..?)  talking at the table, and seven children doing various things- There was a little girl with tan skin and brown hair and eyes that was kinda on her own and watching the whole thing while munching on a lemon bar, two boys, one with brown hair done in a faux-hawk and the other with messy black hair, that looked like the man at the table, roughhousing, and three girls, one a ginger with a weird nose that was talking loudly, a girl with almost white hair that was nearly as loud as the ginger, and the other a blonde girl that was a bit quieter, and one boy that looked similar to the boy with brown hair that was roughhousing, only his hair was loose and messy, chatting.

"Let's get something to eat." Sans walked over to the table. "What do you want, kiddo?"

_Hmm...anything that isn't the cupcakes or the lemon bars with sugar on them should be good._ Frisk signed. Out of curiousity, Chara picked up one of the lemon bars with sugar on them, and took a bite. They paused, seemingly choking.

"You all right, Chara?" Sans asked, frowning, Chara shook their head, and forcefully swallowed. "Trust Frisk. Don't eat them. What's wrong with them?"

_They're basically flour and splenda. And they're gluten free. Linda believes that they make you fat or something like that. It's the same with the cupcakes._

"Yuck." Sans commented. He then overheard some of the moms talking as Chara put down the pie and tossed the lemon bar.

"...well, whatever's it's doing here, it should be better than that goat."

"You mean Toriel? Yeah, it should be. What is it even doing over there anyways? Skeletons can't eat, can they?" Sans noticed a bottle of ketchup and walked over to the other table, and took it. Frisk grabbed a plate and some fries, as well as the non-sugared lemon bars and some pie, while Chara grabbed a similar plate, only with more fries, and what seemed like some fudge.

"What? I like chocolate." Chara shrugged as they all sat down.

"Do you want to hang out with the other kids?" Sans asked. Frisk shook his head no. "Alrighty then." Sans took a swig of ketchup.

"How can it just let Frisk act like that?" The blonde mom whispered.

"Hey, if you're done gossiping, can we start the meeting? It should have started five minutes or so ago." Sans asked. It was suddenly a flurry of papers as the kids were called back to the table and the blonde lady stood up.

"Hello. It seems we have a new member, so let's go around the circle and introduce everyone. My name is Linda."

"I'm Alex." The boy with messy brown hair introduced himself.

"I'm Jimmy." Said the other boy with brown hair.

"I'm Anna." The white-haired girl spoke before her mother could.

"Now, Anna, it's rude to interrupt." Her mother said.

"No, you're rude for telling me what to do! I'm ten years old, mother! I can decide what I want to do!" Anna snapped, to Sans' surprise.

"Okay, I'm sorry, dear...I'm Helen." The mother added.

"I-I'm Stella..." The little tan girl said quietly. "M-momma couldn't make it again..."

"I'm Diane." The ginger woman introduced herself.

"And I'm Ashley!" The ginger girl spoke out.

"I'm David." The black-haired man said.

"I'm Tommy." The similarly-haired boy said.

"I'm Paul, and this is Alice." He nodded to the blonde girl, who simply nodded meekly.

"I'm Iris, and this is my son Jamal." Iris nodded to her kid. "Aadila couldn't make it tonight, unortunately."

"Oh, how terrible." Linda said, and Sans could clearly hear the sarcasm in her voice.

"And I'm Sans." Sans introduced himself. He, however signed under the table to Chara, Don't get excited, it's only because of your bluff earlier.

Fair enough. Chara signed back under the table.

"I'm Chara." Chara introduced herself.

_And I'm-_ Frisk started to sign.

"Why don't you use your voice, Frisk?" Linda interrupted him.

"Because it's easier for them to talk in sign language?" Sans pointed out.

"Well, I for one, do not stand for that kind of behavior. Frisk is 11 years old, she should be able to use her voice."

"Her?" Chara frowned, speaking out of turn. "Who are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Frisk of course." Linda smiled.

"My apologies, I was confused because Frisk is not a girl. Nor are they a boy." Chara shrugged, that sugary sweet tone in their voice. "I wouldn't suggest making a fuss over it." They dropped it for that sentence, but picked it back up to say, "Anyways, this is Frisk. Let's get on with the meeting." Sans blinked in surprise at the veiled threat.

**_Well, I guess we never said they couldn't make threats, only that they couldn't kill people._** Sans thought. _**I don't blame them, though. I can't believe Linda would do that!**_

"So, first up on the agenda..." Sensing the boring meeting, Sans decided to kick back some more ketchup, noticing how some of the children looked at him in amazement. He then fell asleep...

He felt someone nudging him. He woke up slightly, and heard someone talking.

"...vaccinations are, as you all know, deadly and contain various poisons. Unfortunately, our school has them as mandatory."

"Huh?" Sans sat back up.

"I am giving you all a petition to sign for optional vaccinations. Please sign it, and help to our cause."

"Hold it. Why, exactly, are you making vaccines optional?" Sans questioned.

"Sans, you really should be listening." Linda sighed. "Vaccines contain poisons that will infect your child. It seems that you already have a child with that infection." Linda nodded towards Frisk, who was rubbing their hands against the table.

"Excuse you?" Sans replied. "There's nothing wrong with Frisk. They don't have any sort of infection or disease."

"She-they," Linda reworded her sentence, seeing the look in Chara's blood-colored eyes, "are autistic, are they not?"

"And they were born like that. It has nothing to do with vaccines or anything. I have a doctorate, Linda. Don't argue with me on this."

_Isn't Dunkle Sans' doctorate in quantum physics?_ Frisk signed to Chara, who shrugged.

_Dunkle?_ Chara signed back.

_**You know, it still surprises me that Chara knows sign language.**_ Sans thought. _ **I wonder why. Although, it's not a question I should linger on now.**_

"Alright then." Linda crossed off the first item on a list that was written on the whiteboard in the back of the room. Sans looked on the list. It said, in order;

Vaccines

Science fair

Cafeteria food

School play

"We'll get back to that if there's time. So, next up we have the Science fair that's coming up in a month. We're going to need some judges."

"Huh, I know someone who would be pretty good at judging." Sans commented, leaning back as he took a swig of ketchup.

"Sans, may I please get some more food?" Chara whispered.

"Sure, go ahead." Sans permitted.

"Why do you let her interrupt you?" Helen asked. "One of your kids acts like a stubborn five year old, and the other is rude. Not to mention, Frisk wanting to be a special snowflake with that weird 'no gender' thing. At least your daughter is normal." Chara had come back to hear those last two lines, and she bit her lip hard.

"...You're kidding, right?" Chara asked. "Ya know, if I knew that being here would be full of rude old ladies, I would have just stayed home and been grounded or whatever." Chara smiled politely despite the sass coming out of her mouth.

"Excuse me?" Helen retorted.

"Hey lady! I forgot your name-my apologies- but not identifying with a gender is perfectly normal. It's called 'non-binary', and both Frisk and I identify as it. So please, refer to the both of us 'they' or 'them'. Thank you kindly." Chara pulled a cupcake off her plate, and took a bite. "Also, did you make these cupcakes?"

"Why, yes I did! Made them with my own sweat and tears." Helen smiled. Chara threw it at her.

"Hey, next time, if you're going to buy store-bought cupcakes, buy the good kind. Those, at the very least, can help to hide the fact that you're a terrible cook with a spoiled little brat. Also, try to hide the box better." Chara said all that with a smile on their face, and then did a little bow and sat down. Everyone looked at her in shock.

_**Heh.**_ Sans took another swig of ketchup. _ **Said exactly what I was thinking. I still don't trust them, exactly, but I think it's safe to say they won't kill anyone.** _ Sans looked at the shell-shocked Helen at the other side of the table. _**I don't know about them morbidly hurting anyone, though.**_

"So, let's get the rest of the meeting over with." Sans shrugged, sitting up.

***

_Nice job, Chara!_ Frisk signed to them as the meeting ended.

"Thank you, Frisk. Just doing my job." Chara shrugged. Frisk gave a confused expression. "I'll explain in the car." Chara replied as they left the building. "Thanks for giving me a chance, Sans." They added.

"No problem, Chara." Sans replied coldly. "I'll admit, your speech against Helen had me surprised."

"Like I said, I'll explain in the car. I already told you though, did I not?" Chara smiled, fiddling with the heart-shaped necklace around her neck.


	2. Trouble with trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite Chara passing the test that they won't kill anyone, Sans is reluctant to trust them. Sans, with the help of Frisk and Toriel, gives Chara another chance, and sends them to school.

"How did the meeting go, Sans?" Toriel asked when they got home.   
"Pretty well, actually. No one died, although Helen got roasted pretty badly." Sans laughed.   
"I hope you didn't do anything. You can't control fire after all." Toriel frowned.   
"Oh, it's a figure of speech. Chara just completely shut down any refutation from Helen after the insult she gave. It was awesome!" Sans smiled.   
"Oh dear! Great job, Chara." Toriel gave a small smile. "Someone needed to knock her off her high horse. We all know that her baked goods are crud and she buys them from the store."   
"Not to mention, her kid is hella bratty." Chara shrugged.   
"Oh dear, not in front of Frisk!" Toriel looked, but thankfully, Frisk had already gone upstairs to do homework. "Whew."   
"Yeah, I see what you meant by trash talking, T." Sans added.   
"These are just plain soccer moms." Toriel explained. "Although soccer moms are bitchy."   
"Well, we certainly need to do something about that." Chara said. "And I think the best part is to help the kids and the parents."   
"What are you saying, Chara?" Toriel asked.   
"Enroll me in school. I already know most of the stuff they're teaching anyway, and I can help the other kids."   
"No." Sans closed his eyes.   
"Why not? It seems like a good idea." Toriel retorted.   
"You don't remember Chara like I do. Chara is a monster." Sans explained. Chara had a blank look on their face. "I'm not gonna kill humans. I already went over this." Chara rolled their eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me." Chara pushed past Sans and headed to the study.   
"Sans, this is a good idea. There would be teachers watching them in every class and they could help Frisk."   
"I just don't feel comfortable having them out of my sight." Sans explained. "I explained to you about the timelines, right?"   
"Yeah, that Frisk could SAVE and RESET." Toriel frowned.   
"In another timeline, Frisk is possessed. They kill everything. They kill you, they kill Papyrus, Undyne, me, all the monsters, everyone. They even kill Asgore."   
"That's horrible!" Toriel gaped.   
"And the monster that possesed them? That was Chara. I watched everyone die, Tori. And I was powerless to stop them. Oh, I tried. I tried my hardest. But they were able to get past me."   
"I can see why you would be worried." Toriel frowned. "But Chara has said multiple times that they weren't going to kill anyone. They even proved it at the meeting. Can't you just give them a chance?"    
Sans sighed.   
"I don't know. I just..." Sans couldn't find the words. "Let's try it." He was done with dealing with Chara. "I'm gonna go check on Frisk."   
Sans walked slowly towards the stairs, stopping by the study to look in. He saw Chara was reading a book, a small pile of them in front of them.   
Guess they like reading. Sans continued up the stairs.   
"Hey, kiddo." Sans sat next to Frisk, who was in bed.   
Hey Dunkle Sans. What's getting to you? Frisk signed.   
"You know. Having Chara around just..." Sans sighed.   
It reminds you of 'that' timeline. Frisk replied.   
"Yeah. I just don't want the reminder around. Although I know it wasn't their fault," Sans glared straight at some unseen place, as if he was staring straight at someone or something, "I just can't get the reminder out of my head."   
I understand. Frisk stated. But just treating them badly and not giving them a chance isn't going to help a bit.   
"I know, kiddo." Sans sighed. "I just don't want a repeat of that route."   
And that may not happen. You won't know unless you give them a chance.   
"I guess you're right as usual, kiddo." Sans smiled. If anyone could cheer him up, it was this kid. With that, he tucked in Frisk and kissed him goodnight. Sans then went downstairs, and looked back in the study, seeing that Chara was in the middle of another book. They seemed like they were shaking a bit, but it could have just been his imagination. Sans then went to the kitchen.   
"Toriel, let's give them a chance."    
"Chara?"   
"Yes. Let's let Chara prove themselves." Sans decided.   
"Alright." Toriel stood up.   
  
Chara sighed from their place in the study. They were relieved that the couple was giving them a chance, but they wished Sans would trust them more.   
After what they were forced to do, they couldn’t blame him. After all, the two of them had something in common. It was the reason why they had gone down into the underground in the first place.

They didn’t want to think about it. As Sans walked past yet again, they dug their nose into the book- It was about something with witches and wizards, and was very interesting- hoping that Sans would just peak in and walk off.

No such luck. Sans walked in.

“Hey, Chara.” He said, sitting down next to the child.

“Hi.” Chara replied stiffly.

“So, we decided to enroll you into Frisk’s school.”

“I heard. Thank you for that.” Chara nodded.

“Can you come with us to the computer? We need you to choose your classes.”

“Sure.” Chara put down the book and followed the skeleton.

“Here we go.” Toriel already had the computer on. “Do you happen to remember how to use one of these things?”

“Kinda.” Chara sighed. Within the next hour, they had set up the computer, and Chara had tested to see what classes they would be put in. Their schedule looked very packed;

1st- Science 6

2nd- Beginning Psychology

3rd- Math 6

Lunch

4th- English 6

5th- Monster History

6th- Dance

“Wow, those are tough classes.” Sans sighed.

“You’re going to be in that psychology class  with the highschoolers.” Toriel warned.

“I know.” Chara bounced a bit in their seat. “I’m pretty good at classes like that. Like languages and anything involving humans.”

“Ah. Wait, is that how you know sign language?” Sans asked.

“Well, um, that’s several things.” Chara felt concerned, and they rubbed their hands along the table. Sans seemed to decide not to push them too much.

**_Well, that’s a relief._** Chara thought.

“Okay, go ahead and get ready to go to sleep.” Sans said.

“I don’t need to sleep. I’m a demon, remember?” Chara felt their red eyes flash.

“Fair enough.” Sans left, putting his hands in his pockets. “Tori, I’m going to Grillby’s.”

“Okay.” Toriel said as the skeleton left. 

“So, who would my teachers be, Toriel?” Chara asked.

“Well, I would be your Monster History teacher. I believe Miss Smith would be your math teacher, Napstablook would be your English teacher, and Mrs Castro would be your science and psych teacher. And I think Mettaton teaches dance.”

“Cool.” Chara replied. “Well, I gotta get back to reading. Thank you for signing me up.” They pushed back the chair and stood up, leaving the room.

“That poor child.” Toriel commented to herself. “They always did have something on their mind all the time. And some sort of anger issue, as well.” Toriel shook her head and smiled to herself. “I’m sure that this is a good idea. She can be helped here.”

***

“Mornin’, Frisk.” Chara mumbled as the child walked downstairs, bumping into a plant on the side of it.

_ Hi there, Chara. _ Frisk signed, which Chara could barely catch due to them not even signing in their direction.

“Frisk. Can you come over here? I’m in the study behind the plant.” Frisk, following the other child’s instructions, walked over.

“Can you tell me if I’m blurry?” Chara asked.

_ Well, now that I think about it, yeah. _ Frisk paused. 

“Hmm...you might need glasses.” Chara asked.

_ Really? Why?  _ Frisk signed sheepishly.

“Can you not tell?” Chara sighed. Frisk shrugged. “Well, we need to get Toriel to bring you to get glasses. Let’s go talk to her.”

“Good morning, my child, and Chara.” Toriel smiled.

“Good morning, Toriel.” Chara replied back. “Did you know that Frisk needs glasses? “

“No, I did not.” Toriel frowned. Chara could smell bacon from where the goat was cooking. “Although, that explains a lot. I’ll schedule an appointment for them later today.”

_ Thanks, mom. _ Frisk signed.

“No problem, my child.” Toriel smiled. “We all want what’s best for you.” Frisk nodded.

_ Yeah, even though the reason Chara cares is because they’ll die if they don’t. _

“Hey!” Chara glared at them. “What time is school?”

“School starts at 8:30 for you guys. It’s 7:00 now.” Toriel looked at the time.

“Alright.” Chara drunk some juice that was on the table. It tasted like oranges.

“Breakfast’s ready.” Toriel smiled as she set down two plates of bacon and eggs. Frisk hummed in appreciation as Chara thanked the goat mother.

“No problem.” Toriel smiled.

_ Wait. _ Frisk paused.  _ Is Chara going to school with me? _

“Yep.” Chara smiled.

_ Cool. _ Frisk continued eating.  _ I can help you around.  _

“Sounds good. Thanks, Frisk.” Chara frowned.  **_Huh. Who would have thought that I would be reliant on another person again?_ **

 

**_***_ **

 

“Good morning, Frisk! Who’s this?” The two children had walked into the office to get Chara’s schedule.

_ This is Chara. They’re going to start attending this school now. _ Frisk signed.

“Nice to meet you, Chara.” The lady smiled. “I’m Marylann Crowe. Come right over here and I can print out your schedule.” Chara did as she asked and got her schedule. It was the same as they had selected the previous night.

“Frisk, you can help your sister with her schedule?” Frisk nodded as Chara bit their lip at the wrong pronoun. They left the office.

_ Let’s see, we have Science, Math, English, and Monster History together. _ Frisk signed. 

“Okay, how are the teachers?” Chara asked.

_ Napstablook is a pretty cool teacher. So is Mrs. Castro- you remember Stella from the PTA meeting, right? Mrs. Castro is her mom. She just got back into work. Mom’s a good teacher as well. As for Miss Smith, she’s a good teacher, but I don’t like her.  _

“Well, this should be fun.” Chara rolled their eyes. “We should probably get to class soon.”

_ Nah, the bell rings when it’s time to go. _ Frisk smiled.  _ Hey, let’s go talk to MK. _

“Who’s MK?” Chara asked.

_ Monster Kid. You remember him, right? _

“Yeah.” Chara recalled the Undyne fanboy.

_ Well, he’s one of my friends. I...don’t really have a ton, but he’s one of them. _

“Alright. Who else are you friends with?” Chara was a bit confused by all the people walking past them as the two moved through the halls. Several stopped and stared, and they swore they could already hear some whispers.

_ Well, I’m friendly with Alex, but more often, he’s overshadowed by Jimmy. I only have one class that I have with Alex and not Jimmy. _

“So, Jimmy’s a jerk? They were at the PTA meeting, right?” 

_ Yep. _

“Yo! Frisk!” They saw the armless monster run up to the two of them.

_ Hey MK. _ Frisk signed.

“Who's this?” MK asked, pointing at Chara with his tail.

“I’m Chara.” Chara smiled, trying to hide their confusion. “I’m transferring here.”

“Really? Cool! But yo, Frisk, you never told me you had a sibling.” MK also looked confused.

_ It’s a long story. But they’re here now. _

“Alright. But you gotta tell me later, okay?” MK demanded as the bell rang. “I gotta go. Miss Clark is gonna give me detention again if I’m late.”

_ Gotcha.  _ Frisk signed as MK left.  _ Let’s go, Chara. _

“Where's our next class?” Chara frowned. This school was huge! Much bigger than their old school had been, many years ago. How did people find their classes?

_ Over here. _ Frisk led them to a classroom, where a small group of other children were lined up. Chara uneasily adjusted their backpack. They were still unsure on when exactly Sans had gotten the backpack for them, as Sans had gotten home without one. But somehow, he had one for them when they had finished eating. As the two walked up, the other children were talking like normal, but as they noticed the new kid, they started to fall silent and stare at them. Chara fidgeted uncomfortably with their backpack under all the attention. 

“What are y’all staring at?” Chara said in her sweet voice.

“You’re new.” One of the girls, with long blonde hair and blue eyeshadow pointed out.

“No kidding.” Chara replied dryly.

“What’s your name?” Another girl with black hair and yet again, blue eyeshadow, asked.

**_Do all girls here not know how to do makeup or something?_ **

“I’m Chara.” Chara introduced themself.

“I’m Makayla.” The blonde introduced herself.

“And I’m Kaya.” The blackhaired girl said.

“You have an ugly sweater.” Chara heard another person say from the back.

“Who was that?” Chara asked sweetly. The crowd parted to reveal Ashley from the PTA meeting.

**_Huh, I could recognise that face from anywhere._ **

“You’re weird. You were rude to Anna’s mom, and you have an ugly sense of fashion. Aren’t all girls supposed to wear makeup?” Ashley sneered.

“You really want to try me, Ashley?” Chara asked sweetly. “Wow, I don’t have a fashion sense! How horrible! How terrible to find out that not everyone cares about fashion!”

“Wow, you’re being mean.” Ashley sniffed.

“I’m being mean? You were being mean.” Chara crossed their arms. “You were the one that started insulting me.”

“Hello, children.” They were interrupted by a feminine voice with a slight Spanish accent. Chara looked at the source of the voice. Mrs. Castro was a petite woman, being only about six inches taller than themselves. She had bangs and short curly brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. While she was seemed a bit stressed, she has an air of calm about her that dissolved the tension between Chara and Ashley.

“Mrs. Castro! Chara’s being mean!”

“I’m being mean? You were the one who told me I was weird and had a bad fashion sense.” Chara retorted.

“Okay, calm down, girls.” Mrs. Castro seemed to be holding something. “Frisk, honey, could you hold Ben for me? I couldn’t get a babysitter today.” Frisk nodded and held the thing-which Chara realized was a baby- As Mrs. Castro turned back to the Chara and Ashley.

“Ladies, arguing isn’t the best way to solve anything.” Mrs. Castro said. “Anyone else, what happened?”

“Ashley did start it.” Kaya stated.

“Yeah! Chara’s telling the truth!” Makayla added.

“Is this true, Ashley?” Mrs. Castro turned to the ginger.

“N-no- yes it is.” Ashley realized she was outnumbered.

“Thank you for telling the truth. Now, let’s go inside.” Mrs. Castro opened the door. “Are you a new student, Chara?”

“Yeah.” Chara replied.

“It’s nice to meet you. I assume you already introduced yourself to the class?” Chara nodded. “In that case, just go ahead and sit down next to Frisk.”


	3. Quiet hands?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans reflects on his worries about Chara, and the two kiddos deal with Linda again.

Sans sighed as he hugged the pillow closer to him. He knew that he was taking a chance in letting Chara go to school. Frisk had wanted it, after all, and who was he to say no to the kiddo? But there was just one part of him that didn’t trust them.

 ** _For all I know, Chara’s just lying to get me to trust them._** Sans thought as he reclined onto the wall behind his and Toriel’s bed. A shiver went down his spine.   ** _Just like I did…_**

 

_“Ugh... that being said... you, uh, really like swinging that thing around, huh? ... Listen.” Sans panted. The small child at the other end of the hall paused, still holding the knife. He saw the heart-shaped medallion move with their breathing, and the crazed, murderous look in their eyes._

_“I know you didn't answer me before, but... somewhere in there. I can feel it. There's a glimmer of a good person inside of you. The memory of someone who once wanted to do the right thing. Someone who, in another time, might have even been... a friend? C'mon, buddy. Do you remember me? Please, if you're listening... let's forget all of this, ok? Just lay down your weapon, and... well, my job will be a lot easier.” Sans begged. He knew this was worthless. Even if the kiddo- no. not just the kiddo, HIS kiddo, Frisk, was still alive somewhere in there, this demon would just take over once more._

_He would never get Frisk back. What was even the point? Paps was dead. Undyne was dead. The lady- Toriel, he recalled her name as, due to meeting her in another timeline- was dead. Everyone was dead or in hiding._

_He had decided what he was going to do. He resumed his focus on the monster in front of him, as they seemed confused on what to do. Finally, to the skeleton’s surprise, and dread, the thing dropped the knife._

_“... You're sparing me? Finally. Buddy. Pal. I know how hard it must be... to make that choice. to go back on everything you've worked up to. I want you to know... I won't let it go to waste. ... c'mere, pal.” Sans held back some tears. Frisk was in control...which meant that he had to do it. He had to kill his kid. As the kid ran towards him, Sans embraced Frisk in a hug._

**_And this, is goodbye._ ** _Sans pushed off the child and summoned his unavoidable attack, killing Frisk._

_“Geeeeettttttttttt dunked on!” Sans yelled. “If we’re really friends…” Sans paused, swallowing. This was painful. “...You won’t come back.”_

 

Sans held back some tears after the memory. That had been the last timeline he remembered. Did that have something to do with Chara’s appearance in this timeline? Chara had said that they had made a deal with Frisk.

“Sans? Are you alright?” Toriel walked up the stairs.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Tori.” Sans sighed, letting the pillow go.

“No, you’re not.” Toriel sat down next to him. “Look at you, you’re obviously **_bone_ ** tired.” Sans chuckled at the pun.

“I just have a **_skele-ton_ ** on my mind.” Sans admitted.

“About Chara?” Toriel laughed.

“Yeah, I have a **_bone_ ** to pick with them when they get home.” Sans smiled. “But in all seriousness, I’m still worried about them.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. They’re probably in chemistry or psychology right now, having plenty of fun!”

 

Well, Chara was having fun.

But it was because the other high schoolers were just complete and utter _idiots._ They snickered at the sophomores and juniors, who kept looking all confused at what Mrs. Castro was talking about. Chara understood all of it, and thus, they decided to look around the room. On the wall were several drawings about safety in the lab, which ranged from drawings to what seemed like pictures from the computer. There was a small shelf-full of projects from other classes next to them. They had felt slightly worried due to them being both the smallest and the youngest person in the room, but now, they felt confident. As the bell rang, they got up to put away their stuff, but were stopped by Mrs. Castro.

“You’re Chara, correct?” She asked. Chara nodded.

“My daughter told me about you.” Mrs. Castro said. “I’m Gloria, Stella’s mom.”

“Oh, nice to meet ya!” Chara smiled.

“Stella told me that you stood up to Helen at the PTA meeting. Nice job on that! I unfortunately, couldn’t make it,” Gloria nodded to the baby in her arms. “But I’m hoping to be able to make it to next week’s.”

“That’s good.” Chara replied. “I have to meet Frisk, they’re helping me to find my classes because we have a lot of classes together.”

“Okay, see you later!” Gloria smiled.

 _You ready for math?_ Frisk signed as Chara left the room.

“Yep. Let’s go.” Chara followed Frisk upstairs, and they lined up next to the door. There were two other kids that they recognised as Jimmy and Alex from the PTA meeting, as well as Alice. The three turned when they noticed Chara, but Jimmy paid attention to Frisk more.

“Hey Frisk.” Jimmy said in a tone that raised Chara’s awareness. Jimmy walked over to Frisk, and started to corner them into a wall.

 _Please stop…_ Frisk signed.

“What’s that? I don’t speak ‘freak’ language. Does that mean keep going?” Jimmy taunted.

“They said for you to stop.” Chara spoke up.

“If she wants me to stop, she can tell me in regular English. Just like how we were intended to speak.”

“ _They_ want you to stop.” Chara insisted, feeling red hot anger fill her head. **_I have to keep a level head._ **

“Like I said, if she were to stop acting like a retard and actually speak like a human, I would stop. Isn’t that right, Frisk?” Jimmy put his hand on their shoulder.

That did it for Chara.

“ **STOP!”** Chara yelled, moving her hand as Jimmy was enveloped in a red light. Jimmy then was moved to the other side of the room, hard. Chara paused, looking at the red flame of magic coming from their hand.

**_What on Earth?_ **

“Jimmy! Dear, are you alright?” Chara was jolted out of their thoughts at the familiar voice. Luckily, their magic had disappeared.

 **_Linda._ ** Chara thought the name with disgust.

“Mom! She threw me across the room!” Jimmy pointed at Chara, who held their breath.

“Oh Jimmy, everyone knows that girls aren’t strong enough to do that. Why are you lying?”

“I’m not! She threw me across with magic!”

“Everyone knows that humans can’t have magic, Jimmy! We’ll talk about this at lunch.” Linda told him sternly. Jimmy glared at Chara, who simply smirked in response. Everyone went into the room and sat down, leaving Chara at the back of the room.

“Sweetie, can you come here?” Linda asked them. Chara walked up to the woman. Linda’s voice was kind, but she tightly gripped Chara’s shoulder.

“What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Chara.” Chara replied.

“Class, this is Chara. Please be kind to her.” Chara internally winced at the wrong pronoun. “Chara, you can go sit next to Frisk and MK.” Chara sat down at the empty desk.

“What are we learning right now?” Chara asked.

 _We’re learning about fractions and stuff like that._ Frisk signed, and then started rubbing the desk quietly.

“Sounds easy.” Chara commented. Why had they put them in this class? They knew all of this stuff!

Linda started teaching, and then, halfway through the class, she gave a worksheet.

“Now, while you don’t need to do this, I have a special treat for those who finish first. You can get a piece of chocolate!” Chara perked up.

 **_Chocolate? Hell yeah, I’m finishing this!_ ** Chara started the minute they got the paper, and as they finished, they saw that everyone else was still working. **_Yes!_ ** Chara walked up to Linda.

“Miss Smith, I’m done.” Chara put their paper on the desk. Linda looked over the paper, and frowned.

“...I guess this is correct. Here you go.” Linda gave then a piece of chocolate.

“Thank ya.” Chara smiled as they sat back down.

“What? you finished already?” MK asked in surprise.

“Yeah. This is easy.” Chara shrugged.

 _Can you help me?_ Frisk signed.

“Sure!” Chara moved over to Frisk’s desk. “What do ya need help with?”

 _Well, it’s the part about simplifying fractions._ Frisk signed.

“Alright, so you just…” Chara started to help Frisk, and then MK once they were done with Frisk.

_Thank you-_

“Frisk! What did I tell you about those movements in my class?” Linda yelled.

 _They’re distracting?_ Frisk signed. Linda paused for a moment, thinking. She then turned to her computer and typed something.

 **_This can’t be good._ ** Chara frowned as Linda turned away from the computer, and turned back to their table.

“Quiet hands, Frisk.” Linda ordered. Chara looked at Frisk, who was obviously confused as well.

“Ugh, here.” Linda got up and walked over to the desk. To Chara’s shock, she grabbed Frisk’s hands and put them in their lap. “Those stay there. Do not move them.”

“Wait! What if they need to go to the bathroom or something?” MK asked, confused.

“In that case, she can raise her hand and ask like any _normal_ child. I will not tolerate her acting like a 5 year old when she is 11.” Linda sniffed, and sat down at her desk. Suddenly, Chara felt extremely uncomfortable. They looked in horror at Frisk, who was clearly struggling to keep their hands still in their lap.

This was obviously torture. And that was one thing that Chara would not stand to be done to Frisk.

**_The bitch is going to pay for this!_ **

“Frisk, here.” Chara took off the locket and handed it to them. “Keep it in your lap, but you can touch it to help for now.” Frisk hummed in appreciation, and rubbed the locket. Chara sighed in relief as the uncomfortable feeling disappeared, and the bell rang. The two left the room as Frisk held onto the locket.

“What now?” Chara asked.

 _Dunkle Sans normally brings me lunch._ Frisk signed.

“We can tell him about the ‘quiet hands’ torture when he comes, can’t we?” Chara asked.

_Definitely._

“Hey kiddo.” They heard the familiar deep voice.

 _Dunkle Sans!_ Frisk hugged him.

“Hello, Sansy~” Chara teased as Sans gave them a ‘can you not’ look.

“Hey kiddo, why do you have their locket?” Sans noticed as he gave them both the McDonalds bags of food, to which Chara said thank you and Frisk gave a hum of appreciation. Frisk sighed and started to explain.

“Quiet hands?” Sans frowned. He sat there, quietly, as Frisk continued, but Chara saw his eyes got dark when Frisk mentioned that Linda had moved their hands into their lap.

“For some reason, Frisk and I have the same feelings.” Chara said when Frisk finished explaining. “When Frisk was trying to keep their hands in their lap, I suddenly felt really uncomfortable. It was like some sort of itch that I couldn’t scratch. I realized that was how Frisk was feeling, and as the demon that possessed them, I gave them my necklace to help calm them down.” Sans was silent.

“...Thank you for that, Chara.” Sans finally said, as his eyes went back to normal. They could both tell he was struggling to keep calm.

“No problem. You’re gonna make her pay, right?”

“Of course.” Sans smiled, his sockets going black again.

 _No bad time for Linda!_ Frisk signed. _At least, not yet._ They added with a smile.

“I agree. I have a better idea.” Chara said.

“Well, we can talk about it when you guys get home.” Sans said.

 _Bye!_  Frisk waved.

“See ya.” Chara added as they walked off. “Where do ya normally sit?” Chara asked.

_With MK outside._

“Does she always treat ya like that?” Chara asked. Frisk nodded.

**_Oh, I’m gonna kill the bitch! I'm gonna stab her and watch the human blood pour out of her body onto the floor. I'm gonna listen to her screams, and make sure she regrets every little moment her or one of her little shits made Frisk uncomfortable..._ **

_What’s that look for?_   Frisk frowned. Chara was popped out of her thoughts as they noticed that Frisk was rubbing the locket more than usual.

“Oh, sorry.” Chara replied. **_I got caught up in my thoughts again. Dammit!_ **

_It’s cool. Well, we’re here, but MK isn’t._ Frisk signed.

“Sorry! It’s a bit hard to hold food with a tail!’ Mk ran towards the two, but faceplanted on the ground. “It’s cool! The food’s fine.”

 _That’s good._ Frisk signed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thank you guys so much for 40 kudos! The 'Quiet Hands' scene is inspired by a post I saw a while ago. I can't remember who posted it, but I wanted to give credits to that person. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to comment, and I hope you have an awesome day/afternoon/evening/whenever you read this!


	4. A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara finishes their first day of school, and they start to plan with Sans on how to get revenge on Linda for enforcing 'Quiet Hands' on Frisk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! Happy holidays~

 

“Yo, what’s the story with Chara?” MK asked as he sat down. “Are they adopted like you are?”   
“I guess? It’s a bit hard to explain.” Chara frowned. “I’m not really part of the family yet.”

‘Why not? you’re living with them, aren’t you?” MK pressed.

“Um, I’m not sure if you remember.” Chara looked at Frisk.

_ They don’t. _ Frisk signed.

“Don’t remember what?” MK frowned.

“I-it’s nothing.” Chara quickly said. “Anyways. I’m living with them, but we’re just seeing how I fit in with the family.” 

“Hmm…” MK looked at Chara suspiciously. 

**_He doesn’t believe me. Although that’s partially true, I guess._ **

“Okay...can you believe Miss Smith today?” MK turned to Frisk. “In reducing your stimming and all!”

“Stimming? Was that Frisk rubbing the desk?” Chara frowned. Frisk nodded.

_She’s never done that before, though._ _Linda, I mean._

Chara wanted to kill Linda. They didn’t dwindle on the thought in fear of caring Frisk again, though.

“Hey, are you gonna or eat, or…?” MK asked. Chara looked down and realized that they hadn’t eaten anything yet.

“Oh, whoops.” Chara took a bite of the burger, frowning inwardly at the grease.  **_It’s not like I even really NEED to eat or anything._ **

Although, after eating, Chara felt different.  **_Like there’s something full in my stomach… I kinda remember this. Am I full?_ ** Chara frowned. Monster food had had that quality that it never quite filled them up, but it did help them not feel hungry. And before that, human food was gross.

**_It must have just been the food that my ‘family’ made. Because despite the grease, this is pretty darn good._ ** Chara decided. The trio continued eating and chatting, until the bell rang.

 

The rest of the day went by like a flash, as Chara just sat by while the other kids danced due to the fact that they did not have their clothing required to dance. Mettaton seemed like a good teacher.

**_It_ ** **does** **_look fun, honestly._ ** Chara admitted to themself. As Mettaton let the other dancers go change, the robot turned to Chara.

“Hello there, darling.” Mettaton smiled. “I need to go over what you need for my class.”

“Okay, what do I need?” Chara asked.

“So, normally, I would tell you based off of your gender…” Mettaton said.”...but the gender binary is overrated and thus, I will just give you the list and go over what each gender has to wear.”

“Fair enough.” Chara sighed. “Nothing for non-binary folks, then?”

“Nope. Unfortunately, the school requires that students in dance dress depending on what gender they physically are, and not mentally.” Mettaton sighed. “I’ve been trying to get Toriel to let me go to the PTA meetings so that I can protest it, but she told me that the other moms wouldn’t listen.”

“I can ask Sans to bring it up.” Chara offered.

“You know Sans?” Mettaton asked.

“I’m living with him, Toriel, and Frisk.” 

“Oh! I did not realize that! Although, I should have due to the fact that you were put in as ‘Chara Dreemurr’.” Mettaton smiled. “Thank you for that, darling.”

“No probs.” Chara shrugged.

“In any case, those who are physically female are required to wear a leotard, shorts, and tights. You will also need to get some black jazz shoes….” The two went over the list of clothing and shoes that Chara needed to get.

“Thank you, Mettaton.” Chara smiled.

“No problem, sweetheart. I can bring you and Frisk home if you’d like. I normally do anyways.” 

“Sounds good! Thank you.” Chara replied as the bell rang.

_ Hey Chara and Uncle Mettaton! _ Frisk greeted them as they walked into the dance room.

“Hello, sweetheart.” Mettaton swooned as he picked up Frisk, who started laughing.  He swong the child around before putting them down. “Alrighty then, darlings, let’s go!”  Mettaton left the room, followed by the two children.

 

Sans sat in the bean bag chair in front of the TV, waiting for Mettaton to come back with the two kids.  In the meantime, he was plotting revenge.

**_How DARE Linda do that to Frisk!_ ** He thought angrily, gripping the chair.  **_I swear, it’s going down at the next PTA meeting!_ **

“SANS.” He heard the voice of his brother. “WHAT’S GOTTEN INTO YOU, BROTHER? YOUR EYE IS GLOWING AGAIN.” Sans calmed down his eye.

“My bad, bro.” Sans smiled. “I was just thinking about something.”

“ARE YOU GETTING THE NIGHTMARES AGAIN?”

“No, fortunately. I’m just trying to think up a plan. Apparently, one of the teacher’s at Frisk’s school has been preventing them from stimming in their class.”

“REALLY? THAT’S HORRIBLE.” Papyrus said. “DO YOU WANT SOME SPAGHETTI?”

“Sounds good, bro.” Sans replied. “Anyways, I’m just trying to think of a way to confront her about it without going all out. Frisk told me not to, after all.”

“WELL, YOU COULD JUST TELL THEM TO STOP.” Papyrus produced a plate of spaghetti from out of nowhere and gave it to the shorter skeleton.

“Yeah, I could just tell them to stop  _ bean _ rude.” Sans smiled, settling into the bean bag.

“SANS, OH MY GOD.”

“I know, I’m amazing.” Sans smiled. “I guess talking to her is the best thing to do. Show her that I’m not  _ alfredo _ her.”

“SANS!” Papyrus glared at him, but was smiling.

“Come on, you’re smiling.” Sans smiled as well.

“I AM AND I HATE IT.” Papyrus muttered.

“Hello~ We’re back, darlings!” Mettaton opened the door.

“HELLO METTATON!” Papyrus greeted his boyfriend.

“Hello, Papys!” They hugged. “Well, we gotta go.”

“THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME OVER, BROTHER!” Papyrus waved goodbye as the couple left.

“No problem, bro.” Sans smiled. “Now, I’m sure you two have homework.” 

“Yep. I also need to get a list of stuff for my classes.” Chara handed him the lists.

“Gotcha.” Sans read through the list.

_ I’m gonna do homework. _ Frisk signed.  _ I’ll be in the study. _

“Okay.” Sans said as Frisk left. 

“So, what are we going to do about Linda?” Chara asked. “Frisk said no bad time for her.”

“Well, I sure want to talk to her about it.” Sans said. “Papyrus suggested that I just talk to her.”

“Yeah, you could do that, but use logic, Sans. Do you really think she’ll listen to you?” Chara retorted.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sans demanded.

“Look, earlier, I knocked her kid Jimmy across the room. I don’t know how, but I guess I used magic? And when Jimmy tried to tell her, she said that he must have been lying.”

“Her own kid? Why?” Sans was surprised by Chara having magic.  **_It must be the demon part of them._ **

“Because ‘girls aren’t strong enough to throw boys’ and ‘magic isn’t real’. Linda not only thought that she was smarter than her own kid, she completely shut down Jimmy’s arguments. If Linda isn’t going to listen to her own kid, she sure as hell isn’t going to listen to you. You can sure try, but she’s not going to.”

“Alright then. What do you suggest?” Sans asked.

“I suggest revenge.” Chara smiled evilly.

“What do you have in mind?” Sans asked uneasily. 

“We’re not going to hurt them or anything. We’re just going to mysteriously do better than her at the bake sale. And the science fair. And she’s going to find pranks all around her- in her classroom, her car, you name it. Linda’s a person of pride. And if we keep standing up to her in her sexism, racism and all that, the others will follow our example. And then, we will  _ ruin _ her.” Chara smiled, having dropped the sweet tone.

“Sounds good to me, except for the ‘ruin’ part.” Sans replied. “We can have Muffet help us in the bake sale!”

“And Alphys with the science fair!” 

“Sounds great, kiddo. So, do we have a deal?” Sans held out his hand. “You stay peaceful and help me with revenge, and I’ll try to trust you more.”

“It’s a deal.” Chara smiled as the two shook hands.

 

***

 

“Thank you for letting me come to the meeting, darling~” Mettaton smiled. 

“No problem, Metta. It’s nice to have other monsters at the meetings.” Sans smiled, looking at Frisk, who was communicating with Chara, who was holding a cake that Toriel had made.

“Definitely.” Sans said as they pulled up to the school. “Well, we’re here, gang.”

“Alright. Let’s get to it!” Mettaton said, pulling a laughing Frisk out of the car as Chara got out. Chara held the cake in one hand.

“Well, one things for certain.” Chara said, moving towards Sans. “Shit’s going down today.” They whispered the last part.

“Agreed.” Sans replied. As they all walked in, Sans saw several people sitting at the table. There was Linda and her kids, Helen and her brat, Diane and her kid, David his kid, Paul and his kid, a mother who he didn’t recognise, who was holding a baby, and sitting near Stella, and another mother who wore a headdress covering her head, and was comforting Jamal. Sans walked over to the last two mothers, who were sitting a bit away from the other parents.

“Hi!” The mother with a headdress said. Sans shook his head.

“Don’t you know how to greet a friend? Shake my hand.” Sans held out said hand. The mother reluctantly took his hand, only to laugh at the whoopee cushion that was in his hand.

“Hello there! I’m Sans. Sans the skeleton.” Sans said. “This is Mettaton, Chara, and Frisk.”

“Hello, Miss Castro.” Chara greeted them.

“Oh, here you can just call me Gloria.” The mom with the baby said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

“I’m Aadila.” The woman with the headdress said. “Unfortunately, Iris had work and couldn’t come.”

“That’s a shame.” Sans frowned. “Hey, you guys can go grab some food if they want.” He added, turning to Chara and Frisk.

 

“Awesome!” Chara made a dash for the chocolate cake, recalling how good Toriel had made her cake. They heard Frisk giggling behind them as they grabbed some cake and fries.  **_Dinner of champions, y’all._ ** Chara shrugged as the other child grabbed food. Chara grabbed some apple juice, and pricked up their ears as they heard the other adults from the table.

“...shouldn’t be grabbing so much food. She’ll get fat.” They heard Linda say.

“True. After all, it’s not like she’s skinny anyways.” Diane added.

“I brought some vegetables. Maybe one of the kids can go suggest to her to grab some?”

Chara scoffed.  **_I dare ya. Y’all are gonna get your kids smacked harder than me when Sans gave me a bad time._ **

“Well, it’s too late, the meeting needs to start.” Linda said, raising her voice as she looked at the clock. The kids went back to the table as the meeting started.

**_Shit’s definitely going to go down tonight. And I think I know who’s going to be the cause of it._ **


	5. What the hell, Linda?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Linda's a bitch. What else can I say?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm writing this note because I got a comment about this; Chara and Frisk are SUPPOSED to go by 'they/them' pronouns. The only reason I would write them as anything else is if:   
> 1) Linda, Helen, Diane, David, Paul, any of their kids (Except Alex and Alice), or people who don't personally know them are talking about them  
> 2) It's in a flashback.
> 
> Any other time I would be writing them as anything else is either a mistake, or I'm not referring to them. For example, if I use 'he/him' pronouns in any sentence involving Frisk or Chara, I am referring to whoever they are talking about or talking to because I see both of them as being born female (Frisk is more androgynous than Chara, though) and thus, do not see either of them as being male. Same goes for using 'she/her' pronouns, except for if it's a flashback or just a genuine mistake. I read over my work several times to make sure that I do not use the wrong pronouns on accident, so that will most likely not happen.
> 
> I apologize for the mini rant. Thank you for reading, don't forget to leave a comment, and I hope you have an awesome day/afternoon/evening/whenever you read this!

As everyone reintroduced themselves due to Mettaton being new, Linda stood up.

“First things first, I want to talk about-”

“Excuse me, I have something I’d like to talk about.” Mettaton also stood up.

“Yes? What is it, robot?” Linda asked.

“First off, my name is Mettaton, not ‘robot’.” Mettaton snapped. “Secondly, I would like to open up the dance dress code.”

“Why? It’s perfectly fine for both boys and girls.” Linda retorted.

“That’s exactly it. I want it to be where any genders can wear whichever uniform they want.” Mettaton retorted.

“That’s dumb.” Paul peaked up. Chara wasn’t sure why, but Alice slumped in her seat a bit.

**_Now that I think about it, Alice is in dance with me._ **

“Why?” Mettaton asked.

“Everyone knows that girls need to wear feminine clothing.” Paul retorted.

“That’s dumb.” Mettaton imitated Paul’s tone. “Oh, how dare we let the bodies of children dictate what scraps of cloth they’re permitted to put on their flesh prison.” 

“That’s creepy when you put it that way.” David interjected.

“Well, I can say that as a male, wearing a leotard would not be comfortable.” Paul retorted.

“Well, they’re not exactly comfortable for girls either, but you don’t see them complaining.” Mettaton countered. “And if you’d actually spend time with your child outside of yelling at them for not getting 100 percent on a test you would know that.”

“I spend more time with her than you will ever know.” Paul retorted, then sat down. Alice slumped even more in her chair.

“Anyways, as a former dancer myself, I can say that my studio let me wear the clothing of the opposite gender. And I appreciated the opportunity. Not to mention that not everyone fits into the gender binary, and they would feel more comfortable having a choice of what to wear.”

“Just because Chara and Frisk want to be special snowflakes doesn’t mean that other people do.” Helen piped up. “There’s only two genders, male and female. If they don’t identify with either, there’s something mentally wrong with them.”

Chara winced. That hurt. They weren’t mentally wrong.

And neither was Frisk.

“...Frisk, Chara, darlings, would you like to go outside with the other children?” Mettaton asked. Frisk nodded and hummed in agreement.

“I’ll stay, if you don’t mind.” Chara shrugged.

“Okay, your choice.” Mettaton shrugged as the other kids left. The smile on his face disappeared as the door shut.

“Listen here, Helen. You can do many things. You can be a piece of shit, with a shitty daughter and a failing marriage, hell, you can be the world’s worst baker. I don’t give a fuck.” Mettaton spat. “But, honey, the moment you insult my darling Frisk, you fucked up badly. You could never understand, sweety, but Chara and Frisk don’t belong to either gender. To tell them that there is something wrong with them because they choose to tell people about what gender they were born as - not what they believe, but what they were born as- is completely unacceptable. You re so fucking wrapped up in your gender roles and sexist views that you can’t even imagine what it might be like for them. I heard you earlier, talking shit about my niblings. I’ll have you know that they are the perfect weight, they eat perfectly healthy, unlike your brat who’s going to be 500 pounds when her metabolism stops.” Helen just stared in shock at the robot as the entire room was quiet. “Never talk shit about Frisk and Chara again, or you’ll regret it, you bitch.” Mettaton practically growled at the woman. “That goes for all of you.” Mettaton added.

“Sans, do something about your-” Linda stopped in the middle of her sentence when she realized the skeleton was asleep. “AGH!” She screamed in frustration.

“Now, all in favor of making the dance uniforms gender neutral?” Chara nudged Sans awake, and due to the threat, most of the parents that were previously objecting now agreed. With a vote of 8 to 1, the dance uniforms were voted to become gender neutral.

“..I’ll bring it to the school board.” Linda coldly gave in.

“Thank you for listening, darlings.” And with that, Mettaton sat down.

The whole room was quiet for about five minutes.

“...Anyways, next we need to talk about vaccinations again. We didn’t come to a solution last week, so we must do it this week.” Linda said, looking at the sleeping Sans. “I say that vaccinations need to be optional. Who else agrees?” Diane, Helen, Paul, and David raised their hands, leaving four people who didn’t. 

“Hold on one second.” Linda sighed at Sans talking. 

“What is it, Sans?”

“I need to hear a logical argument from you on why vaccines should be optional. If you can come up with several reasons that cannot be refuted with logic and science, then I will agree to make vaccines optional.”

“Alright, fair. Vaccines cause autism. You have an autistic child, is she vaccinated?” Chara bit their tongue and looked at Mettaton as Linda said the wrong pronoun. He looked ready to kill her, considering he had  _ just _ ranted about pronouns.

“ _ They _ are vaccinated. But they had autism before they were vaccinated.”

“Maybe that was the case with your child, but what about other children? It has been proven by Andrew Wakefield back in the 90’s that there was a link between the two.”

“Firstly, that article was proven to be fraudulent. Wakefield’s article was baseless. Secondly, the article was talking about a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. No other vaccines. You, however, are banning ALL vaccines.”

“M-maybe it was only one vaccine.” Linda stammered. She obviously hadn’t expected Sans to be able to refute that. “But honestly, those illnesses are long gone! We don’t need to worry about getting vaccines for them!”   
“That’s literally the dumbest reason I have ever heard.” Sans rolled his eyes. “Do you know  _ why _ we still have to cook raw meat?”

“You’re kidding, right? We have to cook raw meat because otherwise, we’ll get sick!”

“But no one has gotten sick from that in a long time. You don’t need to worry about getting sick from them!”

“That’s not how it works! Just because we haven’t gotten sick from it in a long time doesn’t mean we can’t get sick again! What does this even have to do with vaccines!?” Linda yelled, and then paled when she realized what she had said.

“Exactly. Just because you haven’t gotten sick from those diseases in a long time doesn’t mean that you get sick from them again. The reason why people haven’t gotten sick from those diseases like measles or whatnot in a long time was because you were  _ fucking vaccinated. _ ” Sans slammed the desk. “Next reason.”

“Why are you cursing in front of your daughter? That’s some cruddy parenting, right there.” Linda pointed at Chara.

“No one fucking cares, lady. Just roll with it.” Chara spat out. They were pissed at the wrong pronoun.

“How dare you?” Linda snapped at the kid.

“I’m agender. Call me by the right damn pronouns.” Chara retorted.

“You see? If you weren’t such a bad parent, you wouldn’t have such a bad child! I wouldn’t be surprised if they wind up in a mental institution at 15!” Linda said to Sans. “Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if both of your daughters wound up in there! At least they would be with people who would take better care of them!”

Chara felt the words like a punch to the stomach. 

“Chara?” Mettaton looked at the child. Chara closed their eyes painfully, trying to keep tears from coming out. They felt someone grab them, and then felt the person run outside with them. As they opened their eyes, they were outside, being held by Sans.

“Look, go play with Frisk. I’ll take care of those bitches.”

“T-thank you.” Chara said reluctantly as Sans put them down. They wiped their tears as Sans put them down.

 

 ** _Alright, today’s the day bitches die._** Sans just took a shortcut inside to his chair. He just popped into his chair, startling the other parents. Smirking at the reactions of the other parents, he stated,“First off, you don’t get to say that to either of my kids. Ever. Would _you_ like it if I told your kids they were going to be in a mental institution as a teenager? Second off,” Sans paused. “I heard about the damn ‘Quiet Hands’ policy in your math class.”

“Quiet hands?” Aadila frowned. Sans explained it to her.

“Wait! My Jamal is in your class!” Aadila glared at Linda. “You wouldn’t  _ dare _ enforce ‘quiet hands’ on my precious boy, would you?”

“Why, yes I did.” Linda said simply. “He was being a distraction to other kids with that obnoxious flapping.”

“That’s how he copes! It’s torture to keep a kid from moving like that.”

“It’s my job to make sure the classroom is optimal for education. If it means keeping your kid from flapping his hands like that, so be it.”

“How dare you!” Aadila yelled.

“If you  _ ever _ enforce that rule again, you will deeply regret it, Linda.” Sans added coldly.

“Are you threatening me, Sans?” Linda demanded.

“Oh, no, I promised Frisk that I wouldn’t threaten you. I’m  _ promising _ you, Linda. If you call anyone by the wrong gender or tell them they’re going to a mental hospital or enforce ‘quiet hands’ on  _ anyone _ , you will deeply regret it. I promise you that.” Sans chugged back some ketchup. “Now, everyone else agree that vaccines should stay mandatory? Don’t let the fact that I had a  _ bone _ to pick with Linda influence your decision.”  Aadila raised her hand immediately. Gloria did as well, followed by Paul. But Sans could see a fear in his eyes. David, Diane, Helen, and Linda all stayed quiet, although Sans could see an uneasiness in their eyes.

“That settles it, then.” Sans said. “Anything else you wanted to talk about, Linda?”

“W-well, there is the school play auditions coming up.” Linda said. “I wanted to discuss what play we will be doing this year.”

“Alright.” Sans sat up. “What play were you thinking?”

“Um, I was thinking about Seussical the musical.” Linda said.

“Heh, a good thing comes out of your mouth for once.” Sans chuckled. “Well, I agree. But, on one condition.”

“What?” Linda said, irritated.

“That we have two humans and at least one monster judging.” Sans replied. “We do need to keep it fair, and monsters need to get more involved.”

“No, we’re fine with just three humans. We have enough monsters here.”

“Really? C’mon Linda. We could use more monsters helping out here.”

“We have enough. Now, all in favor of Seussical?” Everyone raised their hands. Sans sighed at Linda’s stubbornness. “Alright, so that’s settled. And I believe that’s all for the meeting. I will see you next week.” Linda harshly got up and left. The others followed suit, picking up their food and leaving, but slower than Linda had. Aadila walked up to Sans.

“Thank you so much for discussing the ‘quiet hands’ thing with Linda.” She told him quietly.

“No problem.” Sans smiled. “Tell Iris I said hi.”

“Okay, I will.” Aadila replied shyly. “I’ll see you next week.”

“See you.” Sans shrugged as the two walked outside. “You alright, kiddo?” Sans squatted down next to Chara and Frisk.

_ They stopped crying, but they’ve been really lost in their own thoughts.  _ Frisk signed.

“Well, we don’t need to bother with the cake, since it got all eaten.” Sans said. “Let’s just go. Do you want to get ice cream or something?” Sans asked Chara.

“I just want to go home.” Chara muttered.

“Alright. Let’s go.” Sans picked up the kid and brought them to the car, while Frisk and Mettaton followed suit.

 

Chara woke up in a sweat. Panting, they gathered up the blankets around them. 

**_Where...where am I?_ ** They frowned as they looked around the room. Then, it hit them.

**_I must be in Frisk’s room. Huh._ ** Chara turned to the window, which they were next to.  **_What even happened yesterday?_ ** Then they recalled Linda’s words, and the sadness hit them like a truck.

**_Those words were like how_ ** **she** **_used to talk to me…_ ** Chara shook off the sadness, and opened the window. Slowly, they climbed out, and made the climb to the ground.

They had a lot to think about.

 


	6. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciara reflects on their past as they slowly start to realize the horror of their actions, Frisk gets glasses, and the two decide to go on a mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm putting a trigger warning on this chapter for abuse and self-hate. Please skip this chapter if you are affected by these things. Thank you for reading, don't forget to leave a comment, and have an awesome day/afternoon/evening/whenever you read this!

It was fairly cold out. Strangely, the cold didn’t bother Chara as they made their way around town. Based on the darkness, it was probably sometime around 1 o’clock in the morning. The town was a different place late at night, due to the majority of the population being asleep.

 **_Let’s see, what do I need to think about first?_ **  Chara frowned. **_Well, first there’s the bitch. What the fuck is wrong with her? Why does she feel the need to have everything her way?_ **

**_It’s just like how_ ** **she** **_used to treat me. Back before I jumped into Mt. Ebott._ **

* * *

 

_“Charlotte!” Charlotte winced at the loud yell._

_“Coming, mother!” Charlotte bit her lip at the lie. This woman wasn’t her mother. Her mother had been a sweet, kind lady. But then she DIED and left Charlotte with this woman. This woman who disrespected her constantly and had broken her arm wasn’t even worth calling a human._

_“Charlotte, it took you too long to run down the stairs.” Meredith snapped._

_“I-I’m sorry mother.” Charlotte apologized._

_“Not forgiven.” Meredith sniffed. Charlotte winced at the stick that Meredith held. “Now, we are going to be late to school.”_

_“...” Charlotte sighed. She touched the bow she had put in her hair-_ **_If you’re cuter, monsters won’t hit you as hard,_ ** _she had told herself when she put it on- and hoped that it was true._

 _“At the very least, you look like a normal being rather than a freak.” Meredith added. Charlotte winced. She tended to dress and act less like a girl. She didn’t even know if she_ was _a girl. She had read somewhere about people who were born one gender and wound up acting and imagining themselves as a different gender. But she didn’t feel quite like she was a boy either._

_So, she just stuck with being a girl, but she felt uncomfortable thinking of herself as a girl or being referred to as one._

_The smack of the stick on her face caught her off guard, and she fell to the ground._

_“Pay attention when I talk to you, you little runt!” Meredith snapped._

_“S-sorry, mother.” Charlotte said._

_“Get up.” Meredith coldly told the girl. Charlotte stood up, holding her cheek where Meredith had struck her. “We need to leave. Now. Johnathan!” Meredith called Charlotte’s brother. He ran down the stairs._

I’m here, mom! _He signed._

_“Good. Let’s go.” Meredith went towards the garage._

* * *

Chara shook themselves out of the flashback. They hated remembering a time before they discovered that one could be non-binary. It was horrible recalling when they were a girl.

 **_Let’s not dwell on that for now. How about we go into this store and try to get stuff for pranks?_ ** Chara smiled at the thought. As they opened the door, they went to the back. Grabbing some whoopee cushions and shaving cream, as well as a tape recorder, they went up to the front desk and paid for the stuff.

“Isn’t it a bit late for you to be out, little girl?” The woman at the register asked.

“No.” Chara snapped. They grabbed their stuff and left. As the left the store, they felt slightly bad for snapping. It had only been because they just had the flashback.

 **_I’d better get back before something bad happens to me._ ** Chara thought bitterly.

* * *

 

“Good morning, you guys!” Sans smiled at the two kids as they walked downstairs. For whatever reason, Chara seemed very grumpy, while Frisk was perfectly fine.

“Here ya go.” Chara put a bag on the table. Sans looked in the bag and saw some shaving cream, whoopee cushions, and a tape recorder. “For the plan.” Chara added as they yawned.

“How did you get that?” Sans frowned.

“Reasons.” Chara sat down, still yawning.

“Alrighty then, I guess you won’t tell us.” Sans shrugged. In his mind, however, he put the dots together. Chara didn’t have the bag last night, and is tired this morning. He woke them up, so he knew they couldn’t have gone to get it when they woke up.

**_They must have snuck out last night. Don’t blame ‘em. They seemed pretty shell-shocked after what Linda said._ **

“Well, why don’t you go grab something to eat, Frisk?” Sans suggested. Frisk hummed in agreement and walked off. Sans then leaned towards Chara, who almost seemed to be falling asleep at the table.

“Why don’t you just go back to sleep?” Sans asked them.

“Can’t.” Chara shrugged. “Woke up about midnight and couldn’t fall back asleep. I kept seeing things.”  
“You mean dreams?” Sans asked.

“Nah. At least those aren’t real.” Chara replied in a tone that implied they didn’t want to talk about it.

“Okay then. You know, you could probably stay home today.”

“What? I have a test today.” Chara looked startled.

“Do you really think you can focus enough for that? You look like you’re going to fall asleep any second.” Sans retorted. Chara shrugged, and leaned on their fist. However, their arm collapsed under the pressure and they hit their head on the table.

“Ow!”

“See what I mean?” Sans pointed. “I don’t care if you don’t fall asleep. Just stay home today. Take it easy. You know?”

“...Fine.” Chara sighed. “Do ya have anything to eat or drink or whatever? Like coffee?”  
“Ya mean to wake you up?” Sans smiled.

“That’s what I said.”  
“No you didn’t.”

“Whatever. Do ya have coffee?” Chara deadpanned.

“Heh. No sense of humor when you’re tired, huh?” Sans smiled. “There’s coffee in the pantry.”

“Excuse ya, I have plenty of jokes a’ _brewing_.” Chara said, and then paused at the pun.

“So, you would say that you have a _latte_ puns?” Sans smiled.

“Keep that up, and this coffee ain’t the only thing getting _creamed_.” Chara let a small smile show as they went to reach for the coffee. However, it was just out of their reach, and they groaned in frustration.

“Hey, let me help.” Sans said, pushing Chara aside and grabbing the coffee. “Hey don’t worry, Frisk is still growing, maybe you will too. You’ll just have to be a _little_ patient.”

“Oh, shut up.” Chara replied, smiling. “Thanks.” They added as the skeleton handed it to them.

“No worries. Just _bean helpful_.” Sans smiled. Chara rolled their eyes as they continued on making their coffee.

 **_They really do act like Tori, don’t they…?_ ** Sans thought. **_They have similar mannerisms and they like puns, just like T does._ **

Chara was humming a song as they made coffee. It sounded vaguely familiar. The humming stopped when they sat down with the coffee.

“...Look, I, um, need to talk to you about something.” Sans sat down across from Chara. “What exactly happened to you before, well, you became a demon?”

“That is a very interesting question that ya should probably know the answer to.” Chara replied simply. “Ya’ve been through a couple of pacifist routes, have ya not?”

“Yes.” Sans said curtly.

“Well, have ya seen the tapes in Alphys’s lab?” Chara asked. “Ya know, the ones with the Dreemurr family?”

“Yeah.” Sans replied carefully.

“They mention a human, correct? That’s me. Chara.” Chara smiled. “I was adopted by the Dreemurrs when I was 7. As for before that, I ain’t telling.”

“Why?” Sans asked. It hadn’t really surprised him that Chara was related to T’s family, but he was curious as to why they had come into the underground in the first place.

“Well, I can say that I didn’t fall down on purpose. I tripped and fell.” Chara admitted. “But that’s it! I don’t like to think about it.”

“Fair enough.” Sans shrugged.

* * *

 

A while later, Chara was just sitting in their and Frisk’s room.

 **_I haven’t shared a room since, well, I lived with Asriel._ ** Chara jumped up.

 **_Wait. Asriel. ASRIEL IS STILL UNDERGROUND._ ** Chara panicked. They didn’t want their friend to be all by themselves.

 ** _But I can’t go alone! I need someone else to go…_** Chara then got an idea.

**_But I don’t even know if they’ll want to help me...no, they will! They were sad that they couldn’t save Asriel._ **

**_But what if he turned back into…_ **

**_No, he should have stayed as Asriel!_ **

**_It’s fairly likely that Flowey’s there instead. Asriel doesn’t have a soul, after all._ **

**_Neither do I, but here I am._ **

**_Well, that’s because you’re not even a living entity. You’re just a demon, because of the mistakes you’ve made._ **

**_Hey! T-that’s not true!_ **

**_Oh, and what is? You’re not a human anymore, Chara. I’m sure that humans don’t depend on the well being of another human or else they’ll_ ** **fucking die.**

**_That’s…_ **

**_True. And you know it, Chara. You’re not a human or a monster. You’re just an example of a mistake._ **

**_I…_ **

Chara snapped out of their thoughts, feeling more depressed than before.

“What am I to do? I can’t erase what I’ve done.” Chara realized. They held a hand to their face in shock.

“I killed everyone last time. I killed mom. I killed Papyrus. Undyne. Mettaton. Everyone. Even my best friend. And to what end?” Chara’s hand moved over their mouth as they felt tears drop down their face.

“I-I destroyed an entire timeline. I fucked up everything.” Chara sobbed.

“I’m nothing but a huge fuckup.”

* * *

 

Chara spent the rest of the day just laying in bed once they were to tired to cry anymore. They curled up in the blankets, longing for the day to end. They didn’t even perk up when they heard steps up the stairs.

 _Chara!_ Frisk burst in, signing. Chara was a bit surprised at Frisk’s appearance, however. They were now wearing glasses, which showed that they had bright red eyes, exactly like Chara.

 _You were right! I needed glasses!_ Frisk smiled.

“Yeah...I guess…” Chara forced a small smile.

_Are you alright? I don’t understand how I know, but you are feeling really sad right now._

“...I am.” Chara frowned.  “But how can you feel my emotions? I can feel yours, but…”

 _I don’t know._ Frisk shrugged. _Maybe it’s because you possessed me._

“Maybe. Hey, listen, I really need your help. It would make me feel a lot better.” Chara said. **_Now that Frisk is here, they can help me._ **

_Sure, what is it?_ Frisk agreed.

“I need to go out for a bit. Come with me?” Chara asked, standing up.

 _Sure?_   Frisk frowned. The two walked downstairs, only to meet Toriel.

“Hello, my children.” Toriel smiled.

“Hey mom.” Chara commented without thinking.

 _Hey mom._ Frisk signed.

“Mom, we’re going to go out for a walk.” Chara said.

“Okay, be back by 6.” Toriel replied.

“Gotcha.” The two left.

 _So, what are we really doing, Chara?_ Frisk signed.

“We’re going on a-” Chara sighed when they remembered that Frisk could tell their feelings. “Okay, we’re really going to go to the store to buy rope or a bungee cord or something.”

_Why?_

“We’re going to save Asriel.” Chara said. Frisk gasped. “Let’s go, Frisk.” Chara grabbed Frisk’s hands and ran with them to the store.

“Oh, great.” Chara muttered as they walked in.

 _You seem really irritated._ Frisk noted.

“Linda’s here.” Chara whispered.

_Uh oh._

“Okay, let’s move to the back of the store.” Chara grabbed Frisk’s hand again as they moved behind Linda, who was at the register.

 _Be careful, where Linda is, normally Alex and Jimmy are nearby._ Frisk warned.

“Gotcha.” Chara dropped their hand as they reached where the rope and stuff was.

 _Okay, so rope or a bungee cord. Um, what exactly is a bungee cord?_ Frisk frowned.

“It’s similar to a rope, but it’s purposely meant to stretch so that people can jump off of stuff and not get hurt as easily.” **_At least, that’s my understanding of it._ **

_Ah, okay._ Frisk picked up something. _Is this a bungee cord?_

“Yes that is, actually.” Chara blinked in surprise.

_Awesome. Let’s go...wait, do you have money?_

“Naturally.” Chara said as the two moved towards the register.

“Hey, nerds!” They paused as they heard the familiar voice.

 _Uh oh_. Frisk frowned.

“Ha!” Frisk quickly dodged a punch, while Chara caught the punch that came after that.

“Really, Jimmy? Settling for little punches, now?” Chara smirked at Jimmy’s surprised expression.  
“Shut up!” Jimmy snapped as he roughly gabbed his hand out of Chara’s. “A-at least I’m not some sort of freak!”

“Excuse you.” Chara retorted.

“I still don’t know how you managed to throw me around the room,” Jimmy insisted. “But however you did it, I'm sure that you’ll regret it one day.”

“Really now?” Chara asked, as Frisk uncomfortably rubbed Chara’s arm. “I’m pretty sure you’re going to be the one regretting things.”

“Do you want to go, pal?” Jimmy spat angrily.

“You’re asking for it, buddy.” Chara said. “But I can’t fight. Unlike _someone_ else here, I actually care about my sibling and don’t want to fight in front of them.”

“Well, joke’s on you, because Alex is with mom!” Jimmy snapped.

“Oh really? Who’s over there?” Chara pointed over by the clothing.

“Alex?” Jimmy looked over and saw his brother. Chara grabbed Frisk and ran to the register. After buying the cord, they left the store.

_What now?_

“We go to the mountain. We do need to get to that hole where we both fell into the underground, after all.” Chara smiled.


	7. Flowey Messes Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Frisk rescue Flowey. Flower then goes ahead and makes Chara regret their decision.

 

Chapter 7

The walk up the mountain was a quiet one, with both of the children recalling their last walks up. Chara couldn't tell what Frisk's was like due to the amount of hopelessness that invaded their own mind.

**_I don't want another flashback._ ** Chara told themselves.  **_My days as Charlotte are over. I hated that name, I hated the person._ **

And yet, Chara just couldn't sweep their memories under the rug.

_ Are you okay, Chara? _ Frisk signed.

"I-I'm good." Chara insisted, pushing back their memories even further. Finally, they reached the hole.

"That's where I tripped and fell." Chara noted.

_ Me too. _ Frisk signed.

"Do you think the other kids fell like that too?" Chara asked.

_ Possibly. _

"Well, do we have a rock or something we can tie the thing to?" Chara held up the bungee cord. Frisk brought their finger to their chin in thought, and then pointed to a rock next to the canyon. "Bingo." Chara smiled and tied the bungee cord around it, making sure it was tight. "Okay, I'm going to go down there." Chara tied the rope around themselves in a harness-type fashion. "If I pull the rope twice, pull me up. Got it?" Frisk nodded. "Okay, good." Chara took a breath, and jumped down. They closed their eyes as they waited for the embrace of the hard ground. The cord stopped their fall and made their landing easy.

**_I should have thought of a way to bring him up._ ** Chara frowned.  **_Oh well, it's too late now._ **

"Ugh, look who it is." Chara turned to see the owner of the harsh voice. Rather than a goat-like creature, a small golden flower was sitting in the dirt looking at them scornfully. "What do you want, Frisk?" Flowey repeated. "Are you here to make fun of me? To taunt me for failing in my plan? You know, I'm shocked you haven't reset yet." Flowey commented.

**_He thinks I'm Frisk._ ** Chara realized.  **_I don't know how. I'm lighter-skinned than them and Frisk doesn't have a rosy complexion like I do. Plus we're wearing different outfits._ **

"Oh, is it because you're finally happy?" Flowey taunted 'Frisk'. "Let me guess, you're here to see Asriel. Well, he's gone! He's never coming back!"

"Ya know, Flowey, ya should watch ya damn mouth." Chara finally said, taking delight in watching Flowey's expression change into one of shock.

"Y-you're not Frisk…" Flowey realized.

"I wonder how ya mistook me for Frisk. I mean, I did take over their body last time, but we don't look alike." Chara let the sugary sweet tone cover their voice.

"G-get away from me, Chara!" Flowey demanded.

"Sorry dude. I can't. Frisk asked me to bring ya up." Chara shrugged. "Ya know the deal. A demon has to cater to their body for whatever reason."

"Well, that's not happening!" Flowey tried to leave, but suddenly he was trapped.

"Not so fast, little buddy." Chara calmly said, blinking at the sudden magic that had froze the flower.  **_It must be my own. I guess I can control other people?_ ** Thinking quickly, Chara took off a show and filled it with dirt.

"What are you doing, Chara?" Flowey asked nervously.

"I don't have a flowerpot. This is the next best thing." Chara shrugged.

"But that's not faaaaiiiir!" Flowey whined. "How come YOU get magic and I don't?"

"Because I'm a demon that split off from a powerful human. That's how."  **_Actually, I don't know._ ** Chara dug up Flowey's roots and planted him in their shoe. They then tugged on the rope twice.

"Who's up there helping you?" Flowey demanded.

"Frisk. Who else would?" Chara just wanted to get out of the canyon. Their bad memories of their mindset when falling down were starting to try to resurface.

"Oh, are you remembering bad things? Like how shitty your life was before you came down?" Flowey taunted.

"I swear, if you don't stop, I'm going to get the weedwhacker when I get home." Chara threatened.

"Or, you didn't even come down, did you? You 'falling' down? That was no-"

"I swear to god, I will rip off your petals right now." Chara snapped, grabbing one of the flower's petals and starting to pull.

"Ow! Ow ow ow okay, I'll-ow-stop!" Flowey screamed as Chara let go of his petals.

"That's what I thought." Chara replied coldly as Frisk finally pulled the duo up to the surface.

"Thanks, Frisk." Chara smiled. "Now that we have this butthead, let's go home."

"Oh, look who it is. The almighty Frisk." Flowey mocked.

"Ya really want to do this right now? My threat still stands." Chara coldly told the flower, who gulped and shut up.

_ What did you do? _ Frisk signed, frowning as Chara handed them the boot.

"Oh nothing." Chara sighed.

**_I swear, if this wasn't worth saving Flowey for…_ **

* * *

 

"Mom! We're home!" Chara called out as they went into the house.

"Hey kiddo-" Sans greeted them, but paused when he saw Flowey. He got up from his seat at the table. "Why do you have that thing?"

_ They wanted to grab him!  _ Frisk signed, pointing at Chara.

"They wanted to grab him!" Chara said at the same time, pointing at Frisk. They paused and looked at each other.

_ It was your idea! _

"I won't deny that. But ya said ya wanted to help."

_ You didn't even tell me what we were doing until we left the house! _

"Okay kids, that's enough." Sans separated the two. "Now one of you at a time, why did you want to grab Flowey?"

_ Well, I just kinda agreed with Chara when they suggested that we go to grab Flowey. But they didn't say it was Flowey we were going to save. _ Frisk frowned.  _ I just kinda felt bad, you know? There was just one person that I couldn't save. Maybe I could go back and save him now. _

"Alright, that's fair enough. Now, what's your side of the story?" Sans turned to Chara.

"Well, when I was upstairs by myself, I was thinking about how I was sharing a room with Frisk. I thought that I hadn't shared one since, well, I was alive. And then I realized that Asriel was still underground." Chara rubbed their arm. "I started to think about it, because Asriel was my best friend, my partner. My brother." Flowey froze at those words.

"Chara…" Flowey said, frowning.

"And I decided that I wanted to help him." Chara left it at that. There was so much they wanted to add.

**_I wanted to redeem myself. I'm nothing but a huge fuckup and nobody cares what a fuckup does. But I care. And my choices are unforgivable._ ** But they kept that to themselves. And they could tell that Frisk could feel their sadness, so they left it at that in their thoughts.

"Alright. I guess we can keep the flower for a while." Sans relented. "How about you kids grab a flowerpot for him while I watch him?"

"Alright." Chara shrugged as they left the room, along with Frisk.

* * *

 

Sans chuckled as he turned to Flowey. "So, what are your plans here?"

"What do you mean?" Flowey asked innocently.

"You know what the hell I mean." Sans said. "I know you can SAVE and RESET. You were created in that lab. I know you have DETERMINATION."

"So what?" Flowey shrugged.

"So I want to know. Do you plan on resetting anytime soon? Because if you are, you're going to have a bad time,  _ friend _ ."

"Why would I reset?" Flowey asked.

"You want to try again. You want to kill Frisk and prevent all of this." Sans guessed.

"Heh." Flowey said. "You know me so well. Unfortunately, that won't work."

"What do you mean?" Sans blinked. He hadn't expected that response.

"Do you honestly think I haven't tried that? You, who've been through so many resets and so much terror." Flowey asked. "I've appreciated everything. I've destroyed everything. I've won every game. I've lost every game. I've killed everyone. I've befriended everyone. I've done every option available to me. And believe me, one of those was killing Frisk and taking their soul."

"Really now? How did that pan out?" Sans asked.

"I destroyed everything." Flowey put on a scary face. "I became a GOD. And yet, it was all so similar to other timelines that I got bored." Flowey sighed. "You know what was really fun? That timeline where Papyrus watched YOU die. That power...it was unlike any other." Flowey seemed actually impressed. "That's the only time I couldn't beat him."

"Don't." Sans warned, his eye glowing.

"And yet, you know what else was fun? Watching Frisk die. When I overrode their file? I killed them over and over and over, and it was the most fun I had had since that fight with Papyrus." Flowey smirked evilly, seeing Sans' expression. "They really are an idiot. I mean, not only persisting, but going back to get me? And for what reason? Their 'DETERMINATION'? What. An. Idiot."

"You know what? There's a stove right over there that seems like it could be put to darn good use right now. The only reason it's not is because those kids put their damn time into grabbing you because they  _ cared. _ " Sans snapped. "I could very easily just burn you alive over those flames. It would not be hard, trust me on that."

"Tch, because they cared? Chara doesn't care about anything." Flowey sniffed. "Or should I say,  _ Charlotte _ doesn't care about anything." Flowey paused as those words left his mouth, and looked legitimately scared. Sans turned behind him to see said child behind them with a shell-shocked expression on their face. Frisk was also behind them, holding a flowerpot.

"I thought we both agreed to NEVER say that name when referring to me, ever." Chara snapped. Sans saw a red fire coming from their hand, and their eyes turn jet black. He had to admit, while he didn't think they had magic, he wasn't surprised either.

"I-I'm sorry, Chara…" Flowey shrunk down.

"It's too late." Chara coldly said. "It was bad enough when you wouldn't stop talking about my past. It was even worse when you were talking crud about Frisk. But now, calling me by my name that-that that woman who shouldn't even be called a HUMAN BEING called me." Sans stepped back as Chara levitated Flowey towards them. "You are really a despicable creature who doesn't deserve to be called my 'friend'. You don't even deserve to have been saved, I may as well just toss you back into the canyon myself." And with that, Chara dropped the flower on the ground. Flowey's dirt flew all over as Chara turned around.

"W-wait! Didn't y-you say you were going to pull off my petals?" FLowey asked, wincing. He probably shouldn't have said that.

"You deserve NOTHING." Chara said coldly. "Not a word, not a second, not even my thoughts." Sans just stared at the child in shock as they went into the study and shut the door.

"Welp." Sans shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets and Frisk picked up the flower. "Looks like you really made a  _ Chara- _ ter of yourself."

"NOT THE TIME, SANS!" Flowey yelled. "And that's not even how they pronounce their name! It's Chara with a 'sh' sound! Like 'shara'.

"Oh, I know." Sans shrugged. "Couldn't resist the pun."

"AGH." Flowey slammed their face on the table as Frisk put them on the table.

 


	8. Oops!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a giant bitch-fest about Linda, and Flowey just digs himself deeper into the hole that is Chara's anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say, thank you all so much for the support on this fanfic!  
> Also, there's going to be a slight change to the update schedule. I've been able to update almost daily because I'm on winter break, but I go back on monday (which is in two days for me). So I'll try to update when I can, but it won't be as often as it has been.  
> Thank you much for reading, don't forget to comment, and have an awesome day/afternoon/evening/whenever you read this!

Chapter 8

 

Sans sighed. It had been several days since Flowey had joined them. At the moment, Undyne and Alphys were visiting, mainly because Undyne took lessons from Toriel and Alphys wanted to check out Flowey.

“Huh. I’m surprised that you even bothered to threaten a reset.” Alphys commented. 

“Why? Are you just taunting me and thinking I’m bluffing? Think again! I can just reset anytime.” Flowey threatened.

“He’s been doing this for the last several days.” Sans explained. Frisk was next to him, and was holding his hand. Meanwhile, Chara was watching disdainfully from the doorway, making sure not to look at Flowey.

“Well, you have n-nothing to worry about, because Flowey cannot r-reset above ground.” Alphys told the skeleton.

“AGH! Why would you tell them that!?” Flowey snapped at the scientist.

“B-because they’re my friends and y-you’re threatening them. I created you, and I can destroy you just as easily.” Alphys snapped. Flowey shut up. “Well,” Alphys blinked in surprise. “He’s never s-shut up that easily.”

“A certain flower talked crud and broke a promise. Another certain someone didn’t take so kindly to that and scolded him. He’s been like this since.” Sans explained, throwing a glance at the doorway. Chara was gone, however.

**_They probably went into the study again. They really seem to like books, don’t they?_ **

“W-well, how was I supposed to know they didn’t like that name?” Flowey asked.

“Gee, I don’t know, maybe because you were their friend and you should have known better?” Sans responded sarcastically. “I don’t know if you all have noticed, but Chara isn’t exactly in the right state of mind right now.”

_ I noticed. _ Frisk signed.  _ They’ve been feeling more sad than normal.  _

“Hold on a sec. How long have they been feeling sad?”

_ A couple days, since the PTA meeting.  _ Frisk paused.  _ Wait, do you think it’s because of Linda? _

“I wouldn’t be surprised, kiddo.” Sans had to admit, Frisk was one smart child.

But hey, what else was new?

“Well, I-I’ve dealt with Linda and sh-she just behaves unacceptably! She got the school board to cut t-the science budget and to put more money towards sports!” Alphys said. Undyne popped up from where she was cooking with Toriel.

“Are you talking about the soccer mom again, Alphys? ‘Cause if you are, I have a few more complaints to add!” Undyne slammed one fist into the other.

“As do I.” Toriel sniffed.

“And I~” Mettaton strolled into the kitchen and took a seat like the diva he was.

“When did you get here, Mettaton?” Alphys asked.

“I just did, Alphys darling.” Mettaton smiled. “My sensors detected that you were gossipping about that mom and I wanted to join in. Frisk, darling, I have something to give both you and Chara.” Mettaton smiled at the 11-year-old who gasped happily.

_ I’ll go get Chara! _ Frisk signed hurriedly as they ran out.

“Okay, now let’s go ahead and talk shit.” Mettaton got comfortable.

“Well, where do we start? She is  _ such _ a pain to deal with! Both of her punks are on MY team!”

“Let’s not bring the k-kids into this, Undyne.” Alphys said. “T-they did nothing wrong.”

“That’s right.” Toriel said.

“Yeah, but it’s not even like I have a problem with the kids! They’re both great players, and I’m glad to have them! It’s just  _ Linda’s attitude. _ ” Undyne slammed the table. “She acts like the world should conform to HER views, and that whoever disagrees with her is wrong.” Undyne clenched her fists.

“Exactly! And she had the nerve to talk shit about MY pie, when her damn lemon bars taste like someone overdosed on lemon, took a shit, and sprinkled sugar on top.” Toriel added.

“Really? What exactly did she say about your pie?” Sans asked.

“She said it was ‘too spicy’ and how ‘she wasn’t sure if she could eat it’ because it wasn’t gluten free.”

“Is she allergic?” Mettaton asked.

“No. She doesn’t believe allergies exist. But she read somewhere that gluten is bad for you and now she avoids it like the plague.” Toriel rolled her eyes. 

“Wow. How stupid.” Undyne sniffed.

“Yes, not to mention that she’s refusing to let monsters help with the school play.” Mettaton added.

“It’s so stupid.” Sans snorted. “What, are you so afraid of us that you don’t want us to help with the school play?” 

“I know, right?” Mettaton replied. “Like darling, there’s nothing that humans can’t do that monsters can do better.”

“Not to mention, Linda’s been unnecessarily mean to us.” Chara added as they walked in with Frisk. “There was the whole ‘quiet hands’ incident, she misgenders Frisk and me all the time no matter how many times, and she won’t let Frisk sign in her class anymore.” The monsters all stopped and turned to the two children.

“What do you mean?” Mettaton asked.

“She doesn’t quiet hand Frisk anymore.” Chara said, and Sans thought he saw a flash of anger in their eyes. Clenching their fists, they added, “But she still won’t let them sign. She said, ‘As long as I’m letting them do their stimming when it’s not distracting, I can do what I want. And no one in here understands them, so I will not allow sign language in here.’”

“That is so dumb.” Undyne bluntly said. “Someone’s in need of a suplex-”

“Undyne! You can’t just suplex everyone!” Alphys gasped.

“I know.” Undyne muttered sadly.

“And when I told her how dumb it was, she said ‘Well, I wouldn’t let someone who speaks spanish or french speak those in here, even if it was their only language. You speak english in my class or you don’t talk at all.’”.

“Okay, now that’s unacceptable.” Toriel slammed her paw onto the table. “A lot of monsters don’t have mouths! How would they communicate?”

“I don’t know.” Chara shrugged. Sans noticed that they still seemed to be in another world.

_ Hey Mettaton, what were you going to give us? _ Frisk signed excitedly.  

“Oh, right. Sorry sweetheart~” Mettaton reached into the bag that he had. “Here you go.”

The gift was two bars of chocolate for the both of them!

“Thank ya.” Chara smiled happily, holding both of the bars.

“No problem, darling. Well, this little talk was fun, but I have got to go. I’ll see you guys later! So long~” Mettaton left the house.

“Well, I can’t p-promise anything, but I can try to look m-more into Flowey. See if there’s anything that w-would make him more b-bearable.” Alphys said after a minute.

“Well, the one thing that would help is a good old soul. But of course, you can’t make one of those. You couldn’t even make monsters come back to life-” Flowey started to taunt the lizard.

“Jeez, just be grateful that she’s wiling to spend the time to try to help ya, ya stupid flower.” Chara snapped. Flowey’s petals laid back like a cat’s ears would.

“I will get myself a soul. One way or another.” Flowey swore.

“Well, we’d better go as well.” Undyne said. “Thanks for the lesson, Toriel.”

“No problem, Undyne. Feel free to come over anytime.” The goat-lady smiled. Sans, Toriel, and Frisk all got up to walk the two ladies to the door, leaving Chara with Flowey.

* * *

 

**_I feel like they did that on purpose._ ** Chara thought bitterly, clutching their two bars of chocolate.

“Look, I don’t know what your plan is, but whatever it is, I’m sure it’s crap.” Chara stood in the doorway, leaning on the door-side.

“Well, I’m hoping to get a soul. A  _ human _ soul.” Flowey said. “And, well, I’m hoping that a certain person will help.”

“Well, neither Frisk or I will help you. Frisk’s too  _ nice _ to hurt another human, and I made a promise.” Flowey glared at Chara. He knew very well that they never broke promises.

“Oh, you won’t be killing anyone.” Flowey tried to convince them. “There’s a human that you all just complained about, is there not? Just bring me to them, and I’ll take care-” Flowey stopped when Chara laughed. “What? What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry…” Chara stifled their laughter, “It’s just that,  _ phhh _ .” They fell to the ground laughing.

“Why are you finding this funny? I’m offering to  _ help _ you!” Flowey snapped.

“It’s just that, I didn’t expect you to be  _ this _ much of an idiot.” Chara said, laying on the floor. “I may be a sociopathic demon who was brought back to life by a child and brought into this world by taking their soul, but even I’m not that much of an idiot.” 

“”Well, what’s wrong with it?” Flowey demanded. “I get a soul, you guys get rid of that lady, everyone’s happy.”

“Well, what about her kids? I’m sure they care about their mother.” Chara said. “Besides, you can’t just get away with murder up here. They have literally all of their bases covered, and could easily track down a killer.”

“Well then, why didn’t they catch Meredith?” Flowey retorted.

**_Oh_ ** **fuck** **_no. He did not just go there._ ** Chara threw themselves at the flower.

“You do  _ not _ mention her! You do not mention  _ anyone _ from before I fell!” Chara snarled, holding the fearful flower in a choke-hold. “I can’t believe you! We made a promise!”   
“Well, when you’ve been through as many resets as I have, you realize you have to break some promises.” Flowey smirked.

“You don’t understand.” Chara said, hold him in an even tighter hold. “I didn’t tell you everything. I just told you some of what that woman did. I didn’t tell you what caused me to  _ jump _ into the chasm in the first place!”

“J-jump? But you said you f-fell…” Flowey frowned, obviously confused.

“Well, I lied. Do you know why, Flowey?” Chara dragged the flower off towards the garage, as they started to hear Sans, Toriel, and Frisk come back into the kitchen.

“N-no…”

“Because you were just an innocent 7-year old. Just like  _ I _ should have been. My childhood was stolen from me and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else.”  **_Besides, kids that age shouldn’t be thinking about stuff like that._ ** “I lived with a monster. Not like underground, but an actual, literal, monster.”

“Um, you know-” Flowey started to say.

“You know what the hell I mean.” Chara snapped. “In any case, do you remember the many nights, I would wake up, begging for someone to ‘stop’, tears running down my face?” 

“Y-yes…?” Flowey trembled under the pure rage of the 11-year-old.

“Do you know  _ why _ I woke up like that?” Chara asked the question as if they were talking to a young child.

“N-no...you never told me…”

“Because that woman-no, that  _ thing _ ,” Chara brought Flowey up to eye level. “ _ tried to kill me. _ ”

“W-what?”

“That’s right. There was a reason why I woke up crying. There was a reason I ‘fell’ down. There was a reason behind all of my behavior. And so far, the only human who has been different from any other, is Frisk and my brother, Jonathan. Because my stepmother - who may as well have been my mother, I remember more of her than my actual mother- was a monster in disguise, and all other humans have failed to prove otherwise.”

Flowey shook in Chara’s grasp. He finally understood. Their anger. How they had reacted to the adult monsters, namely Toriel, when they first fell. How they had reacted the first couple times they messed up something. Their habit of nervous laughing. The nightmares. 

And lastly, why they had been so willing to die for the plan.

“But Frisk,” Chara changed the subject. “Frisk is different. Frisk has been nothing but nice to me. I still can’t understand it. I caused them to destroy everything. I made them kill all of their family. And yet…” Chara sighed. Suddenly, they saw something flash.

**_No...not right now!_ ** “Okay, bye.” Chara hastily put down the flowerpot and fled the garage to outside.

“Where are you going?” Flowey demanded as the door slammed.

* * *

 

Chara shivered. The cold that hadn’t bothered them so much before was now unbearable. It didn’t help that they kept getting the flashes of memories, ones that were compressed far into the back of their mind. Flowey kept bringing them back up, and they kept suppressing them, over and over. But these, these memories that she had yelled at Flowey in a fit of anger, come upon them with such a force that they could not resist, and they collapsed in the cold as the memories washed over them.


	9. Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara recalls the last memory of Meredith and their life before the underground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW on this chapter for: Abuse, attempted murder, murder, and attempted suicide.

Chapter 9

 

_Charlotte sighed as she adjusted the bow in her hair. Looking in the mirror, she frowned as she could still see a blackish-purplish bruise over her right eye despite the makeup covering it. Touching said bruise, she winced at the pain. But, she had no choice but to cover it. She bit her lip to keep yelps of pain from coming out as she covered the bruise more, until she could no longer see the bruise._

" _Well, that's all done." Charlotte sighed. "And hopefully, I look cuter than normal." She added as she adjusted her long curly hair. "After all, monsters won't hurt ya if ya look cuter."_

" _CHARLOTTE!" The girl jumped in her seat at the loud yell as she heard her stepmom banging up the stairs. Meredith kicked open the door, dragging Jonathan with her by the ear. The boy nervously played with his hands, and it looked like he had been crying._

" _How dare you! Do you have any idea what this little bitch told me?" Meredith yelled harshly at her stepdaughter. "He said- you know what? How about you tell her yourself, you little runt?" Meredith pushed the boy towards Charlotte._

Ow. _The boy signed._ Charlotte, I...I told her everything. _Charlotte could only stare at her brother in shock._ **_He told her...everything? He told her about my small stash of books, about me sneaking out, about my diary…?_ **

I told her about the diary. Showed her where it was. _Jonathan started crying._ I'm so sorry, Charlotte.

" _And the diary detailed every little lie you've ever told. Every little rule broken, every little thing you've hidden." Meredith sniffed as she fingered through the book. "How your one pride in 'this miserable life' is your hair. How it was the one thing you had control over." Meredith slammed the diary shut. "I think I know the perfect punishment for you, don't you agree?" Charlotte felt dread crawl down her back as Meredith brandished a knife seemingly out of thin air._

" _Heh...I'll cut off your hair first...then I'll make you regret everything you've done."_

" _M-meredith…" Charlotte started crying._

" _You know, it really is a shame. It's a beautiful day outside." She commented. "Birds and singing, flowers are blooming...on days like these, kids like you…" Meredith threw the knife at Charlotte, pinning her to the wall. "Should be burning in hell." Meredith spat as she ran towards the girl. Pinning her down with one hand, she pulled the knife out with the other as Charlotte screamed. It had gotten her in the shoulder, and Charlotte could already see blood pouring out of the wound._

" _One slash for one rule broken." Meredith sat on Charlotte's tiny form, nearly crushing the kid. To Charlotte's sinking spirits, Meredith grabbed her long, beautiful hair one section at a time, and cut it to the top of her neck._

" _And now, time for blood." Meredith smiled sadistically as she cut into Charlotte's arm. Meredith laughed as the girl screamed in pain._

* * *

 

_The torture continued for what felt like years, but was probably an hour at most._

Mom, you need to stop! You-you're going to kill her! _Jonathan signed hurriedly as he tried to pull Meredith off of Charlotte. In retaliation, Meredith turned and stabbed the boy in the stomach._

" _Jonathan!" Charlotte screamed as the boy fell to the side. She had little time to process it, because as Meredith walked over to pull the knife out of his stomach, Charlotte saw a chance to escape. Pulling herself up to her feet, and nearly collapsing from blood loss, Charlotte managed to run out the door, leaving a trail of blood. Slamming open a window, she threw herself out of it, and fell into a bush._

" _CHARLOTTE! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" Charlotte winced at Meredith's voice._ ** _I have to get out of here now._** _Charlotte realized in horror as she dragged herself from out of the bush. The rush of adrenaline had given her strength to fly out the window, but she still wasn't quite out of the woods yet, and now she felt the cuts start to drain her body of blood._

**_This is just great._** _Charlotte huffed as she panted, wiping some blood away from her mouth. She walked slowly off, away from the house. At this point, she didn't care where she was going._

**_I just have to get away from that house._** _Charlotte told herself._ ** _Health later. Away now._**

_Walking. Walking. Walking. Charlotte lost track of time. She felt pain on the cuts that had stopped bleeding long ago, and held her shoulder, which still bled. The wind blew on her now exposed neck, making her shiver. The weight of Meredith of her body seemed to have dislocated her hip, as she finally realized that she had been limping for the past….however long it had been._

**_What now?_** _Charlotte asked._ ** _I have nothing to live for. Jonathan is dead. Meredith is probably hunting me down right now. I'm going to die anyways if this shoulder keeps bleeding._** _Charlotte felt panic rise up in her stomach._ ** _Wait. There is another option. It's better than any other._** _Charlotte told herself. Despite this knowledge, she still felt dread as she limped up Mt. Ebbot. Mt. Ebbot._ ** _Those who climb this mountain never return…_** _Charlotte thought._ ** _Good. I never want to come back. Humans are monsters, and the only way to survive is to become one._** _Charlotte felt a chuckle come up her throat. It melted into a full blown laugh. She was going to die! She was going to be gone from this world forever, and she was never coming back!_

" _Whoa!" Charlotte stopped at a branch in the road._ ** _Good thing I didn't trip._** _She thought as she stepped over it. Seeing the giant hole in front of her, she definitely agreed with her previous thought. The hole was huge! It was more of a chasm, honestly. She could see a patch of golden flowers at the bottom of the cavern, where the sunlight must have been._

" _Well," Charlotte bit back some tears as she smiled. "this is goodbye to all. I'll see y'all in hell." She took a breath, and jumped. She felt the rushing of air through her short hair, and slammed hard into the flower patch._

**_I...I'm not dead?_** _Charlotte blinked in surprise._

" _Well, this is just GREAT!" Charlotte yelled, slamming her hand into the ground. She suddenly felt all the pain of falling. It seemed the flowers had kept her from dying, but hadn't stopped her from being hurt. She cried out in pain as she felt the cuts on her arms and the bleeding wound in her shoulder, not to mention her dislocated hip and any damage she had taken from the fall. Her screams of pain subsided into just plain crying after a bit._

**_I'm nothing. I'm just a failure. I couldn't even kill myself correctly. And now, I'm just going to die here, all alone._** _Charlotte thought bitterly as she cried._

" _...H-hello?" Charlotte perked up at the voice. It was a quiet voice, not to much different from Jonathan's._

" _I-is anyone there?" Charlotte called out._ ** _If it_** **is** **_Johnathan…_**

_But to her dismay, it wasn't. Rather, a small creature walked up to her. It wore a green and yellow sweater and jeans, and as it walked closer, Charlotte realized it was a goat._

" _H-howdy!" The goat smiled._ ** _If it could talk, it must be humanoid on some form._** _Charlotte realized. As it came closer, Charlotte scooted away._

" _P-please d-don't hurt me!" Charlotte begged._

" _Hurt you?" The goat frowned. "I'm not going to hurt you."_

" _I-I…" Charlotte looked around desperately, trying to find a place to escape._

" _I'm Asriel. Asriel Dreemurr." The goat introduced himself. "What's your name?"_

" _..." Charlotte was quiet._

" _Still don't trust me, do you?" Asriel frowned. "Let's go to Mom! She'll help you. You sure look like you need it." Charlotte frowned. Healing herself had been the last of her worries._

" _Come with me!" Asriel insisted. Charlotte shook slightly as she tried to get up._

" _Let me help you." Asriel walked over to help her up._

" _No! Wai-" The goat picked her up despite her protests, and Charlotte tensed her whole body. But as Asriel ran with her, and she slowly realized he wasn't going to hurt her, she relaxed._

" _Asriel, what's going-" Charlotte tensed again when she heard the feminine voice, and nearly fell out of Asriel's arms. Despite being about the same age, Charlotte was a lot bigger than Asriel._

" _Oh! Dear child, are you okay?" Charlotte saw the feminine goat, and immediately backed off._

" _Stay away from me!" Charlotte snapped._

" _A-asriel? Why is she like this?" The goat asked Asriel._

" _She was afraid of me too." Asriel explained. "Mom's not gonna hurt you, you do realize that, right?"_

" _...said that too…." Charlotte muttered under her breath._

" _Who did?" 'Mom' asked._

**_Did I just say that out loud?_** _Charlotte held her hand to her mouth._

" _...Person." Charlotte muttered._

" _Alllright then. In any case, greetings." The goat smiled. "My name is Toriel. What's yours?"_

" _...Charlotte." Charlotte whispered, still backing away from Toriel._

" _It's nice to meet you, Charlotte. Asriel, do you think you can ask your father to grab some tea for her?"_

" _Sure!" Asriel ran off._

" _Look, Charlotte…" Toriel kneeled next to the scared child. "I'm sorry for whatever caused you to look like this. With those awful bruises and scars…" Toriel frowned and moved to a cabinet. She pulled out a slice of pie._

" _Here you go. Eat it." Toriel gave the pie to Charlotte. "It'll help you heal."_

" _T-thank you." Charlotte reluctantly grabbed the pie, and examined it. It seemed perfectly fine, and she couldn't smell anything that she might not want to eat. She carefully took a bite, only to start eating it faster._

_The pie was indescribable! It practically melted in her mouth, and the savory crust matched the butterscotch center perfectly. It made her warm all over, and as she looked, the scars that Meredith had left on her arms were starting to fade right before her eyes._

" _How did you like it, my child?" Toriel asked._

**_Child?_ ** " _It was amazing!" Charlotte smiled._

" _Oh, I'm so glad you like it!" Toriel replied happily. And suddenly, Charlotte felt scared._

**_Meredith was only nice when she wanted something...What does Toriel want?_** _Charlotte felt the world close in on her._

**_Run. Just run off. She's only using you for personal gain._ **

" _Charlotte?" Toriel frowned. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."_

_But Charlotte barely heard her._

" _I…" Charlotte shook with fear._

" _L-look, do you want anything? Here, I have some books for you!" Toriel ran and grabbed a handful of books._

" _B-books?" Charlotte asked, grabbing one as Toriel put them down in front of her._

" _I-I'm sorry if I may be scaring you, child." Toriel said. "But, I hope that one day you can believe me when I say I won't hurt you." She walked off, leaving Charlotte with the books._

* * *

 

_A few hours later, Charlotte had read the books that Toriel had given her, and then went on to read all the other books Toriel owned. Several had stuck with her, from a book called a 'Dictionary' to the one she was reading. She couldn't recall the title, but it was about gender and sexuality. The book mainly covered more common genders and sexualities, such as being in the gender binary (male or female) or not (being anything else) and being gay or bisexual. But there was one paragraph in the non-binary genders that had stuck with her._

* * *

 

_Agender_

_Another non-binary gender, this is when a person does not feel particularly inclined toward either gender binary. For example, a person who is biologically a girl may not feel as though they are either male or female, and thus identify as genderless. This is different from genderfluid, in which one's gender they identify with can change._

_Pronouns: They/Them_

* * *

 

_Agender. Charlotte took a breath. There was a word for how they had felt this whole time! Genderless. Agender. They took in the word like a breath of fresh air as a smile appeared on their face. Finally, one good thing had come out of this life of theirs._

" _Charlotte?" Asriel came back with a cup of tea._

" _Yeah?" Charlotte said._

" _Here. Dad made it." Asriel gave it to the person._

" _Thank you." Charlotte smiled. "...Do you know if I could change my name? Now that I'm down here?"_

" _Probably." Asriel blinked. "You'd have to ask Mom or Dad about it. Why?"_

" _I have a lot of...bad memories...involved with my name." Charlotte explained._

" _Oh. Um, what do you want to change it to?"_

" _Hmm…" Charlotte thought. "How about Chara?"_

" _Chara?" Asriel spoke the name. "I like it. Come on! Let's see if Mom and Dad'll let you change your name!" As Asriel dragged them to his house, Chara let a smile appear on her face._

**_Maybe I can finally feel like I have a family. For once in my life._ **


	10. Mini revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara recovers from her flashback, and a PTA meeting is held at the house.

Chapter 10

 

Chara woke up with a flash. Panting, they looked around themselves and realized they were back in their and Frisk’s room.

 **_Was that all just another bad dream?_ ** Chara brought the covers around them in comfort. **_Just like how I always have?_ ** Chara’s head snapped up as they heard the door open.

“Oh, you’re awake, my child!” Toriel smiled, and sat down on the bed next to the kid.

“H-hey mom…” Chara frowned, shivering **_Why am I so cold?_ **

“You had us all so worried! First, when we came back in from talking with Undyne and the others, the kitchen was a mess, then we found Flowey in the garage! He told us that you had run outside, and by then it had started snowing…” Toriel grabbed them in a hug. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re alright, my child!”

“How long was I out?” Chara asked.

“For about a day.” Toriel said. “Would you like to talk about anything, my child? Flowey told us that you hadn’t told him very much about what had happened to you, and, well, you barely told us anything.”

“Umm, well…” Chara frowned.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.” Toriel smiled. Chara sighed and started to explain. When they got to the part about Meredith attempting to kill them, they paused, still recalling the awful flashback they had just awoken from, and pulled the blankets even closer.

“Oh, that is…” Toriel embraced Chara in a hug as they finished their detailed account of the abuse they had suffered. “No wonder you came to us in such a horrible state. And also that you reacted so strangely when I first met you.”

“Yeah.” Chara shivered, touching their hand to the back of their neck.

“Also, I have to warn you. The PTA has to meet at one of the member’s houses once a month. This month, it happens to be here.”

“Great.” Chara sighed, pulling the blanket even closer to themselves. “When, exactly?”

“Today.” Toriel broke the news. **_Of course._ ** “Do not worry, my child. You can stay in here. If need be.”

“No, i-it’s fine.” Chara insisted.

“Are you sure? They do tend to call you the wrong pronoun.” Toriel asked worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Chara said. “Worst comes to worst, I can come back up here.”

“That’s my kiddo.” Chara looked up to see Sans in the doorway, Frisk next to him. **_How long had they been there?_ **

“Not long.” Sans smiled. “Frisk here was getting worried about you.” **_They were? Why? And...did I speak that last part out loud?_ **

“Your face spoke your thoughts.” Sans explained. “Well, they’ll be here in a couple hours. How’z about we leave them alone, Tori?” The goat nodded and left with Sans, leaving Chara and Frisk alone. Frisk blinked their bright, blood red eyes, adjusted their glasses, and sat down on the bed.

“...Why are ya so nice to me?” Chara asked. Frisk crawled next to them, and gave them a hug. “W-what are ya doing?” Chara yelped in surprise.

“...I thought you were going to leave me….” Chara jumped at the tiny, high pitched voice.

“Y-ya can talk?” Chara crawled away from the other child.

 _I don’t like to. It’s kinda…_ Frisk paused to think. _...Heavy? It hurts a bit too. I don’t like to._

“W-wow…” Chara replied, staying put where they were leaning up against their pillow. Frisk blinked, and went back and hugged them again, cuddling next to them.

“F-Frisk! No-no-no-” Chara sighed when they realized that the other kid had fallen asleep. **_Of course._ ** Chara couldn’t help but look at them. Despite being almost exactly like them, Frisk looked so much more...innocent. It really reminded them of Asriel.

 **_Why do you like me so much?_ **  Chara wondered. **_Why did either of you like me?_ **

**_I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve anything…_**

* * *

 

“Chara? Frisk?” Toriel came back in a bit later, and giggled a bit at the sight before her. Frisk had woken back up at that point, and the two were playing cards. It looked like Frisk was winning.

“Hey mom.” Chara said, as Frisk signed the same thing.

“Hello, my children.” Toriel smiled. “The guests should be here soon. Frisk, why don’t you come downstairs while we let Chara change into something else?” The kid nodded and jumped off the bed, as the two left the room.

After Chara changed into another lime green sweatshirt and some black pants, they went back downstairs, to an amusing sight. They held their hand to their mouth in a giggle as they saw the interaction between Frisk and Flowey.

“Leave me alone, Frisk.” Flowey grumbled. Frisk pushed a small ball towards the flower, which kept bouncing off of his flowerpot and going back to them. Frisk seemed to be enjoying it, as they were smiling.

“Hey there.” Chara walked down the stairs, and jumped the last step. Flowey hissed at them.

“Good riddance.” Chara rolled their eyes as they sat down next to Frisk. They laid their eyes on Toriel, who was baking a pie. She leaned over to pull it out of them oven, and lay it on the stove to cool.

“Oh, hello there, child.” Toriel smiled when she noticed Chara.

“Hey, mom.” Chara replied without missing a beat. “When’s everyone getting here?”

“Soon.” Toriel smiled. “Hold on, I need grab something from the garage.” Toriel left the room. At the same time, Frisk signed, _Hey, I’ll be right back, I need to go to the bathroom._ They then left Chara alone with the flower.

“Ugh, what do _you_ want?” Flowey muttered.

“Listen, I don’t like you, and you clearly don’t like me. But one thing we seem to have in common is that we don’t like Linda. Right?”

“I’ve never met her, but from what I’ve heard, yep. Go on.” Flowey nodded as Chara whispered their idea to him. “That’s...a GREAT idea.” Flowey smiled evilly.

“It’ll sure be funny.” Chara said, shaking their short hair as Flowey laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still mad at you.”

“Whatever. Like I need a friend like _you_.” Flowey scoffed as Toriel came back in.

“Now, Flowey, don’t be rude.” Toriel chided as the doorbell rang. “Oh! They’re here already.”

“I’ll get it.” Sans ran to the door. “Oh hey there, Iris and Aadila.”

“Hello, Sans.” Aadila smiled, tucking the red headscarf over her ears. Iris smiled as well, and she was holding Jamal’s hand. “Thank you so much for agreeing to hold the meeting here.”

“It’s no problem.” Sans smiled. “Why don’t you come in? It’s awfully cold out there.”

* * *

 

Pretty soon, the kids were all playing in the living room, while Chara was standing next to the door to the kitchen where all the adults were.

"Okay, let's get this meeting started." Linda sat down at one of the extra chairs that Sans had pulled up to the table. "Um, Aadila, sweetie, would you mind taking that thing off?"

"What, my jacket?" Aadila asked, moving to take off said jacket.

"Oh, no, I meant, um, that." Linda pointed to her headscarf.

"...my Hijab?" Aadila frowned. "I, um-"

"Let the lady wear what she wants to wear, Linda." Sans waved off the woman, who shot him a glare.

"Well, for one, it makes me uncomfortable. And two, you don't need to shove your religion in our faces." Linda sniffed.

"For the first part, tough. She wants to wear it, so let her. And two, your religion is literally the mainstream religion. I have heard very little about any holiday that isn't Christmas these past two years, so you may as well shut up about having her religion shoved in your face."

"Well, I say! You're a hypocrite, aren't you? I've seen your house, it's practically swimming in decorations for Christmas."

"First off, we only decorate because Frisk wants us to. We don't even celebrate Christmas. We celebrate a monster holiday very similar to it, however. So, in any case, how about you shut up and we start the meeting?" Sans replied. Chara peeked over into the kitchen. Sans looked calm, but the kid could hear that he was angry.

**_Sans just needs to beat her racist ass._ **

"Now, going off from where we ended last week. When will we have auditions for the musical?" Linda started. Sensing the tension in the air, Sans quickly piped up.

"Hold on a second. We still haven't decided on who will be judging."

"Yes, we did. We decided that it would be me, Helen, and David." Linda replied.

"Hold on a sec. We need more than three humans to help." Toriel stopped them.

"Why? You monsters don't know how to do that kind of stuff, like how humans do."

"I'll have to disagree with you there. Your kid's dance AND drama teacher is a robot, who is embodied by a ghost of a monster. Your kid's English teacher is a ghost of a monster. Your kid's soccer coach and band assistant are both monsters. We know how to do stuff just as good, if not better, than humans." Sans growled. Chara quietly walked in, grabbed a cup of hot chocolate, and left.

Chara sipped their drink as they watched the others. Jamal was sitting next to Frisk, who was signing to Alex, surprisingly, who seemed to be understanding, yet still had a confused look on his face. Jimmy was glaring at his twin from across the room from where he was sitting with Anna and Ashley. Tommy and Alice were talking- well, it was more like Tommy was taking and Alice was listening- and Stella sat munching on a brownie, holding her brother and watching the whole scene. Chara walked over to Frisk.

“Hey Frisk, Alex.” Char greeted the two.

 _Hey, Chara._ Frisk signed.

“Hey. Um…” Alex scratched his back. “I, um, wanted to apologize for my brother. He gets carried away a lot. And his behavior was unforgivable.”

“Thank you for apologizing.” Chara smiled. “You know, you’re much better than your brother.”  
“Y-you really think so?” Alex blinked in surprise.

“Yeah. I mean, your brother’s a jerk. And he’s not that smart. I don’t know how he keeps straight A’s.”

“Well, Mom says it’s because he works harder than I do, but that’s not right. I mean, he’s just chatting with someone on the phone all the time or playing video games. I’ve never seen him study.”

“Well, there’s got to be a reason for it.” Chara said.

“I think th-that Mom br-bribes his teachers.”

“What?” Chara blinked in surprise.

“Yeah. She only does it for him. She constantly compares me to him and asks why I can’t be that good. But there’s a lot she doesn’t know about him. Like how he constantly sneaks out at night, and comes home at 1 in the morning.”

“Really now?” Chara smiled. **_Now I have some dirt on him. Good._ **

“Yep. And yet Mom treats him like a _poster child_.” Alex glared at his brother across the room.

**_Sheesh. Seems like there’s more to this than meets the eye._ **

“Yikes.” Chara took a drink of their hot chocolate. “Hey, do you want to grab some more food?”

“Isn’t it in the kitchen?” Alex frowned.

“Yep.” Chara walked off. As they walked towards the kitchen, they heard some comments that made Chara frown.

“Are they cursing?” Alex frowned.

“Seems like it.” **_They should know that there are kids in the next room._ **

“Look,” Alex stopped Chara. “I know there’s something else going on here.”

“You do?” Chara frowned.

“I can read people pretty well. You in particular, are fairly easy to read. Something’s going to happen in the kitchen, isn’t it?”

“Yep.” Chara smiled, recalling their agreement with Flowey. As they walked in, the adults noticed their entrance and calmed down. Trying to change the subject, Linda’s eyes rested on Flowey. Chara smiled.

“Oh, what a pretty flower! It’s a buttercup, isn’t it?”  
“A sunflower, I believe.” Sans replied. As Linda leaned in to smell it, Flowey bonked her on the head.

“Oh my-” Linda jumped back in surprise as Flowey yelled,

“ **H A I L  S A T A N**!” Both Chara and Alex burst out into laughter, as did Sans and Toriel. Aadila and Iris held back their laughter, Gloria smiled, and the other parents just looked at the flower in horror.

“Oh my, you might want to take Flowey out of here, my child.” Toriel said once she had calmed down. Chara knew, however, that they weren’t going to get of it unpunished.

 **_Worth it._ ** They smirked as they grabbed their food and left with Alex.

“Well, that was funny.” Alex smiled. The other kids seemed unaffected by what had been going on in the other room.


	11. Of Science Projects and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara begins to work on a science fair project with Frisk and two others. But one of the others seem awfully keen to work with them....

Chapter 11

 

Not too long later, Linda had made up some excuse for having to leave, and practically yanked her two kids away. The meeting basically ended at that point.

“Thank you so much for coming.” Toriel smiled.

“Thank you for holding the meeting.” Gloria smiled. “ _ Mi hija _ really liked your pie.”

“She did?” Toriel smiled at Stella. “Thank you.”

“Y-you’re welcome…” Stella fidgeted as she replied.

“Well, we have to go. It’s Ben’s bedtime.” Gloria said. “I’ll see you two in class, Frisk, Chara.”

“Goodbye, Mrs. Castro.” Chara smiled as they left. As soon as the door closed, Toriel turned to Chara with a weird expression on her face. Chara’s smile faded.

“Chara, as funny as your plan with Flowey was, it was very inappropriate for a PTA meeting. We want these people to get a good impression of us rather than that.” Toriel explained. “I’m going to have to put you in time out for a while.”

“Time out?” Chara frowned. “That’s it?”

“Yes. Like I said, my child, it was funny. And it wasn’t like you did something horrible, so your punishment for this is light.” Toriel smiled. “Oh, and Flowey, you’re in time out too.”

“Oh, come on!” Flowey groaned. “I just went along with Chara’s plan!”   
“Oh, way to throw me under the bus.” Chara snapped.

“Flowey, you still cooperated rather willingly.” Toriel said. “You will deal with time out like Chara.”

“Fine.” Flowey grumbled.

* * *

Time out had been boring, due to the fact that neither were allowed to talk or anything. But eventually, it was over, and Chara went looking for Frisk.

“Frisk! Where are you?” Chara called out. They listened carefully for a sound, but heard nothing. Chara knew already what Frisk was doing. 

**_They want to play hide and seek, huh?_ ** Chara smirked.

“Okay, I’m coming to find ya~” Chara said sweetly as they looked around the house. The sofa in that room, the closet, and anywhere in between were all Frisk-free.

“Where can ya be?” Chara asked. Frowning, they walked back into the room where they had been on timeout, to find Frisk talking to Flowey.

“Let me die, Frisk.” Flowey muttered. When Frisk frowned and tried to sign to the flower, he banged his face on the table.

“JUST RESET ALREADY, FRISK.” Flowey yelled.

“There ya are, Frisk.” Chara smiled. “We should probably get ready to go to bed.”

_ Okay. _ Frisk signed, smiling, as they got up.  _ Race you upstairs! _

“You’re on!” Chara ran up the stairs alongside Frisk, who beat them to the top.

_ I won! _ Frisk danced gleefully.

“That you did.” Chara smiled. “Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

 

“Class, I have an announcement.” Chara looked up from where they were sitting in the dance room at the robot.

“Well, two, actually. First off, I would like to announce that we have our Winter Show coming up.” Mettaton announced. “This class will be doing four dances, but you can also audition for other dances. Those you will be doing outside of class, and the dances you can audition for are on the wall outside.”

“Secondly, for whatever reason, they told us to tell you about this in 6th period and not your science class. The annual science fair is coming up in about two weeks. You will have to enter your idea by this Friday. You can work either by yourself, with another person, or a small group.”

**_So I can work with Frisk. Awesome._ ** Chara smiled.

“..um…” Chara felt someone lightly tapping on their shoulder. Chara turned to see Alice, who had been sitting next to her.

“I, um...know, um you’re going t-to work with F-frisk.,.but w-would you m-mind if I worked with you t-too?” Alice asked.

“I’d have to ask Frisk. But why?” Chara asked.

“P-please!” Alice grabbed their arm.  **_That actually kinda hurts…_ ** “My dad’s m-making m-me do it a-and I d-don’t want to do i-it on m-my own.”

“Okay, ya can work with us.” Chara blinked in surprise as Alice let go of their arm.  **_Why is she so agitated? I mean,  if my parent wanted me to do something and I didn’t want to work on it alone, I wouldn’t be so worried._ **

“Anyway, today we will warm up, and then start our first dance. We are dancing to All I Want For Christmas. Let’s go.” Chara stood up as Mettaton put on music for the warm up. After they warmed up, Mettaton put them in a formation.

“Okay, so Chara, sweetie, I want you right here.” Mettaton motioned for Chara to move up to the front, next to one of the guys in the class. “So first, you two are going to be the main partners in this dance. I want you to…” Mettaton spent the next several moments showing them their choreography. It started out with Chara sitting at the edge of the stage, lip syncing the music. They then pushed up and did a chainé turn towards the guy, who would be walking onto the stage. They did a twisty thing so that Chara was in his arms, and he then lifted them so that they were cuddled against him, and then they spun around once. He then put Chara down, and then the others would come onto the stage. The rest of the class continued in that manner until the day ended.

“Hey Alice, can you come with me? We can ask Frisk if they are okay with ya working on the science fair project with us.” Chara offered as they went to change in the locker room.

“O-okay.” Alice agreed. After changing, she joined Chara as they went back to the dance room.

“This is where I meet up with Frisk.” Chara explained, smoothing down their lime green sweater.

“O-oh, okay…” Alice sat down, crossing her legs due to the fact that she was wearing a skirt. “Um, when are they coming? I-I need to l-leave soon.”

_ Hey, Alice. _ Frisk came in, signing.  _ What are you doing here? _

“Oh, um, I was wondering if you c-could l-let me w-work with y-you guys on the Science Fair.” Alice asked shyly.

_ Sure. I have no problem with it. _ Frisk signed.

“So it’s settled then. We’re going to have to get together sometime and work on it.” Chara decided. 

“O-okay then. I gotta go.” Alice ran out the door. “See you tomorrow!”

“See you tomorrow!” Chara called after her. “I wonder why she was in such a rush?” Chara added to Frisk, who shrugged.

_ I don’t know. We gotta get home and tell Dunkle Sans and Mom about this. _

“Yeah, let’s go.” Chara said as they walked over to Mettaton.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, my darlings, but Papyrus is going to take you home today, I have work to do.” Mettaton told them. “He’s meeting you in the band room.”

“Okay, thank ya.” Chara replied. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, Mettaton.”

“See you, darlings.” Mettaton said as the duo left.

“The bandroom’s all the way across campus.” Chara noted. Frisk nodded.

_ We’d better get going, then. _ Frisk signed. As the two started to walk, Chara started to think.

**_What could be causing Alice to be such a worrywart? I mean, she seems to have a good life. She’s a straight A student, and an excellent dancer. She’s pretty, and nice too. I just don’t get it._ **

“HEY!” Chara jumped at the voice. “Oops! Sorry there.” Chara turned to see Alex. 

“Oh, hey Alex.”

“Yeah, hey Chara and Frisk. I was thinking, I need to get revenge on Jimmy. Badly.”

“Badly? Why?” Chara frowned.

“You see, he pulled a really bad prank on me. So I had this project that was due today. I had worked for quite a while on it, several weeks, actually. But when I went to bring it to school today, it was gone.”

“Seriously?” Chara raised their eyebrows.

“Yep. And then I went downstairs, and I saw Jimmy bragging to Mom about how long and hard he had worked on his project, and the project he was talking about was mine.”

_ What? _ Frisk signed in shock.

“I jumped in and said that he had stolen my project, and Mom accused me of lying and said that his name was even on it. Which it was, because I had forgotten to put my name on it.” Alex groaned in frustration. “So I had to turn in nothing and I failed the assignment, while he got an A.”

“What are ya going to do?” Chara asked.

“I want to expose him for who he really is.” Alex smiled evilly.

“Oh really?” Chara saw where this was going.

“Can we exchange phone numbers? I’ll text you about it later.”   
“Oh, Frisk and I share a phone for some reason.” Chara made a mental note to ask Sans for their own phone. Frisk handed over said phone and Alex put his number into it.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys later!” Alex ran off.

“Heh, this is gonna be a good plan.” Chara cracked their knuckles as they continued to walk to the bandroom, where Papyrus was.

“HELLO THERE HUMANS.” Papyrus greeted them. “IT IS I, PAPYRUS THE GREAT BAND ASSISTANT.” Frisk giggled. “AND IT APPEARS THAT I MUST CAPTURE YOU AND BRING YOU TO YOUR HOUSE. WE MUST GO NOW, HUMANS.” Papyrus smiled as he lead the two out of the room.

* * *

 

It was later that day, and Chara was texting Alex about the plan.

* * *

 

Chara: So, what are you thinking?

Alex: I was thinking about maybe setting a thing so that when he sneaks back in at 1 in the morning, it makes a lot of noise.

Chara: Hmm, sounds like a good idea.

Alex: Yeah, I thought about it in class today.

Chara: Needs a little more ‘oomph’.

Alex: What do you mean?

Chara: I’m thinking we need to set up something so that it’ll break something important. We’re gonna need string, bells or an alarm, and something that your mom values.

Alex: What? Why?

Chara: So that even if he can come up with some excuse for being out, he can’t get out of being punished for breaking the thing.

Alex: Hey, that’s actually a good idea.

Chara: Yep. I might also need to come to your house at some point so that I can help you with setting it up.

Alex: Wait, what? My mom thinks you’re a girl still, she won’t let you sleep over.

Chara: I know.

* * *

 

Chara rolled their eyes. Why did this bitch insist on misgendering them?

* * *

Chara: That’s why we’re going to be working on a project.

Alex: Wait, what? What type of project?

* * *

 

At that moment, Frisk walked in.

“Hey Frisk, do ya mind if Alex works on a science fair project with us and Alice?” Chara asked them. Frisk paused for a second.

_ Ask Alice. It’s fine with me. _ Frisk shrugged.

* * *

 

Chara: I’m going to need to ask someone else who is working with us, but you can help us with the science fair if you want to. We can not only beat out Jimmy, but we can win money and stuff. Not to mention, it’s a perfect excuse.

Alex: That’s actually a very good idea. Sure, I’d be willing to help!

Chara: Awesome! I’m gonna ask Alice if she’s okay with it. See you later.

  
Alex: See you tomorrow.

* * *

 

Chara tossed the phone next to them. 

“So, what do you think the four of us should do as a project?”

_ Why don’t we ask Dunkle Sans or Mom for ideas? _

“Yeah, that seems like a good option.” Chara thought for a second. “Wait, why don’t we ask Alphys? She’s a scientist.”

_ Hmm….maybe we can have Alice and Alex come with us to her lab. _

“Yeah, why don’t we do that?” Chara sat cross legged. “Hey, I’m hungry. Let’s go downstairs.”

_ You go ahead.  _ Frisk signed as Chara stood up and walked downstairs.  _ But I ate all the chocolate. _ Frisk added with a smile as they heard Chara scream in frustration from the kitchen.


	12. Magic and Awkward Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Sans start to work on their magical powers.

Chapter 12

 

Sans stretched out on the couch as he slept. Rather peacefully, in fact, more so than he had ever had since the underground. Especially since he no longer got the nightmares, ranging from memories of Papyrus dying, to the experiments in the lab, to the amalgamates as they fused together, dripping with the amount of DETERMINATION injected into them…

And yet, that peaceful sleep was soon interrupted by a certain child screaming in anger in the kitchen, as Sans jumped up.

“Huh? Wha- oh, hey there, Chara.” Sans smiled.

“Frisk ate all the chocolate!” Chara pouted. Sans could see red magic glowing a bit from their eyes.

“Oh well, you can always get more.” Sans shrugged. Chara sighed.

“I really want some chocolate, though.” Chara sat down next to Sans on the couch.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. Chara’s eyes were still glowing.

“You know,” Sans broke the silence. “I could probably help you to control your magic.”

“Seriously?” Chara raised their eyebrows.

“Yep.  _ Tibia _ honest, you could have beaten me easier if you had powers and were able to use them at the time.”

“How did I not know this before?” Chara frowned.

“You were possessing a human, which has no magic other than a powerful soul. You wouldn’t have been able to use magic anyway.” Sans yawned and got up. “Well, there’s that and other reasons.”

“Other reasons?” Chara frowned.

“Well, you’ll probably find out shortly. Frisk is older now than they were when the entered the underground though, that’s part of it.” Sans commented, hoping that Chara would get the hint.   
“What are you talking about?” Chara demanded. “You’re being confusing.”

“You...really don’t know what I’m talking about?” Sans blinked in surprise.

“Nope.” Chara shook their head.

**_How does Chara not know about puberty? Although, they were raised by monsters, and it does happen later to monsters than it does humans... Probably around 16 or 17 compared to their 10 or 11._ **

“Well, anyways, are you ready?” Sans put his hands in his pockets.

“What? Now?” Chara blinked in surprise.

“Yep. Grab my hand, we’re taking a shortcut.” Sans held out his hand. Chara grabbed his hand uncertainly, and they were suddenly enveloped in a flash of color and light. Sans ran towards a hole in the side, where it appeared to be dark, while Chara took in the bluish tinged light patterns. Suddenly, they were in a field, and it was sunset. The flowers and grass moved in the light wind, and due to them not wearing shoes, the grass felt tingly under their feet.

“‘Kay, so first, we’re going to try to get it to activate. Kiddo, try to activate your magic.” Sans began.

“How do I do that?” Chara frowned.

“Well, um, do you recall a feeling of power, or of um, heat? Or maybe cold?”

“Not really.” Chara frowned.

“Well, what color was your magic?” Sans asked.

“Red.” Chara replied.

“Red?” Sans racked his thoughts. Orange meant BRAVERY, and was marked by heat. Blue meant INTEGRITY and was marked by cold. Aqua meant PATIENCE, Yellow meant JUSTICE, Green meant KINDNESS, and Purple meant PERSEVERANCE. What could Red mean?

“Red could mean DETERMINATION.” Sans muttered to himself. “When did your magic occur? Were you ever determined to do something?”

“Well, it activated when I was protecting Frisk from Jimmy. I was rather determined to do so.” Chara thought.

“Hm.” Sans thought. “Well, are you determined enough to block this?” Sans suddenly summoned a Gaster Blaster.

“Agh!” Chara tried to moved, but Sans had manipulated their soul to be frozen in place. Chara looked around desperately and braced themselves for the blast. But when it hit them, it felt more like a beam of light, just like he had meant for it to be. 

“Huh?” Chara frowned.

“For a person who used every single ounce of DETERMINATION they had to destroy, that was pathetic.” Sans commented. Chara glared at the skeleton. “But hey. If you want to make a  _ Chara-de _ of yourself, be my guest.”

“Shut up!” Chara snapped. They stood up, and they must have been angry, for Sans could see their eyes glowing.

“Heh, your eyes are glowing. That’s what I thought when I saw that you were angry about the chocolate, your DETERMINATION is triggered by anger.”

“What do ya mean?” Chara frowned.

“Frisk’s very determined, like all humans. But DETERMINATION in the form it comes in in humans has to be caused by something. And DETERMINATION is activated when certain feelings are in effect. For example, Frisk’s is activated by MERCY. Yours, however, appears to be activated by anger.”

“Well, that’s helpful.” Chara rolled their eyes. “In that case, take this!” Chara threw some red magic at Sans, who dodged it.

“Whoa there, kiddo. I only have 1 HP.” Sans warned them. “And I don’t know what that attack does. Well, anyways, let’s put that to better use.” Sans summoned another Gaster Blaster. “Don't worry, it’s not gonna fire at you. You know what’s interesting about these things? They have a soul of their own.” Sans nodded at it. “Try to lift it.”

Chara brought their hand up to the Blaster. Sans noted that they were trying to copy how he had lifted their soul. Chara tried to lift the blaster, but to no avail.

**_I’m not surprised. Boy, are they going to be mad when I tell them that the Blasters  really don’t have a soul._ ** Sans chuckled.

“AGH!” Chara looked frustrated, and and as they lifted their arms in frustration, the Blaster flew up into the sky.

“H-holy shit.” Sans looked up in surprise.

“What?” Chara asked.

“Um…” Sans clasped his hands together.

“I did it. I lifted their soul.” Chara pointed out.

“That’s the thing. Um, they don’t actually have a soul…” Sans admitted.

“What?” Chara blinked in surprise.

“Yeah...Red must be more powerful than any other.” Sans frowned. “Whelp, that’s enough for today.”

“Seriously?” Chara frowned. “I was just starting to get control!”   
“Yep. That’s all.” Sans smiled. “Hey, how about you try to teleport us home?”

“M-me?” Chara seemed shocked.

“Yep. You. There’s no body else here.” Sans smiled. “There isn’t even one person, let alone a  _ skele-ton _ of people for you to ask.”

“Why don’t you do it?” Chara frowned.

“Nah, I’m too tired. I’m waiting.” Sans sat down.

“Here, take my hand.” Chara sighed in frustration.

“Just close your eyes and imagine where you want to go. Then imagine your power flowing through you and start running.” Sans instructed. Chara nodded and closed their eyes. When they opened, their eyes were all black, except for their pupils, which were glowing bright red, and they started running. Within seconds, the duo were in another time warp, this time stained red. As they ran towards what looked like a house, Sans took in all the patterns of the red light. All of a sudden, they were in their house.

“Well, that was fast.” Sans commented. “Tori should be back by now, it’s been a couple of hours.”

“Really?” Chara looked surprised. “That felt like only a couple of minutes!”   
“Nope.” Sans smiled and got comfy on the couch. “Whelp, time for a pre-dinner nap.”

“Saaaaaansss.” Chara groaned in frustration as Sans closed his eyes.

* * *

 

Chara sighed as the skeleton fell asleep. 

**_Well, now I kinda know how to control my powers._ ** Chara looked at their hands.  **_This might come in handy._ **

“Frisk!” Chara called out as they ran upstairs. “Where are ya?” Chara ran to their room. They saw Frisk on their bed, doing something on their phone.

“What are ya doing with our phone?” Chara asked.

_ Texting. _

“Texting who?” Chara sat down next to them. At the top, the name ‘Alex’ was seen.

“FRISK NO.” Chara grabbed the phone, and saw a series of flirty texts. “No no no no no!”

* * *

 

Chara: I’m so sorry, Alex! I went out to do something with Sans and Frisk got a hold of the phone and started to text you.

Alex: Oh, it’s fine. I didn’t know they could flirt like that, though.

* * *

 

“Friiiiiiiiisk.” Chara whined, glaring at them.

_ Aw, does someone have a crush? _ Frisk signed teasingly.

“No, I do not!” Chara retorted.

_ Well, you certainly don’t feel like you have one.  _ Frisk sighed.

“Do ya, Frisk?” Chara asked back. To their surprise, they felt a bit of surprise, then embarrassment.

_ Well, that’s, um… _

“Oh my god.” Chara smiled. “Ya do, don’t ya?” 

_ No, I don’t! _ Frisk signed, no longer smiling.

“Ha ha! Ya do! Oh my god.” Chara laughed.

_ Chara, stop. _ Frisk blushed, looking away as they pushed up their glasses.

“Who is it?” Chara demanded.

_ That’s um, personal. _ Frisk crossed their arms and started tapping their arm nervously.

“Come on, Frisk.” Chara smiled.

_ Please, stop. _ Frisk demanded. Chara started to realize that Frisk was feeling very upset, and they realized that Frisk was starting to stim.

“Alright. But I’m gonna keep guessing.” Chara said.

_ Of course. _ Frisk sighed.  _ Well, why don’t you get a crush?  _ They asked as they wrung their fingers together.

“I don’t know. I’m just not feelin’ it right now.” Chara shrugged.

_ You haven’t gotten to where you start liking guys? _ Frisk frowned.

“Nope. I don’t know why.” Chara replied.

_ You...you never learned about what happens at about our age? _ Frisk signed in surprise.

“Ugh, ya are the second person who’s said something like that today.” Chara rolled their eyes. “What exactly happens, Frisk?”   
_ For someone so smart, I would have though you’d have read about this at some point. Or someone would have told you. _ Frisk signed.

“Well, I clearly haven’t.” Chara said.

_ Um...have you heard of puberty? _ Frisk signed, seeming embarrassed.

“No…?” Chara frowned.

_...Oh dear. _ Frisk signed.  _ I’m, um, not the best person to ask about this. Why don’t you ask Mom or someone? _

“Ugh, why can’t you just tell me?” Chara demanded.

_ It’s um, a bit embarrassing… _ Frisk admitted.

“Okay, fine, I’ll ask Mom.” Chara groaned getting up. 

_ Whelp. They’re in for a bad time. _ Frisk signed to themselves as Chara left.

* * *

 

“Mom, what’s puberty?” Chara asked Toriel.

“Oh...um…” Toriel looked at the child in surprise. “I didn’t think you’d ask about that.”

“Well, I did. Both Sans and Frisk refuse to tell me, so could ya please?” Chara asked.

“Well, alright.” Toriel started to explain. Chara sat down and listened. Toriel explained everything, and Chara started to see what Frisk had meant about it being embarrassing.

“Oh...um...thanks?” Chara said, fully blushing, when Toriel had finished.

“Oh, it’s no problem, my child. Please let me know if you have any questions.” Toriel smiled.

**_Well, that was disturbing._ ** Chara said.

“Thanks for the fair warning, Frisk.” Chara said as they walked into their room and laid down face first on the bed.

_ You’re welcome. _ Chara couldn’t see them, but they knew that’s probably what Frisk was signing. Frisk suddenly started tapping them.

“What?” Chara demanded.

_ At least you weren’t here in 5th grade. We watched a video on it. All of us who were ‘biologically female’ had to watch the ‘female’ video.  _ Frisk pointed out.

“Ah, that must have been painful.” Chara noted. “Wait, ya were born a girl?”

_..Yes? Why is this important? _ Frisk frowned.

“Sorry, it’s just, ya look like you’re non-binary.” Chara admitted. “It was a little hard to tell.”

_ Well, it’s easy to tell with you. _ Frisk signed, and then ran off.

“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?” Chara demanded as they ran after Frisk. “GET BACK HERE, I HAVE SMALLER LEGS THAN YA!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of things real quick:  
> 1) The puberty thing with Chara, it's important to later chapters, and I will not go into huge detail with it, just mentions like how it is here.  
> 2) I have created an ask account for these characters! The name is asktheundertalekiddos on Tumblr.  
> Thank you so much for reading, don't forget to leave feedback, and have an awesome day/afternoon/evening/whenever you read this!
> 
> ~Skater


	13. Revenge Plot: Start!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciara takes Frisk out to Grillby's and Ice cream, and get a chance to start their revenge against Jimmy...

Chapter 13

"Sans! Dinner is ready!" Sans awoke to the sound of Toriel calling him.

"Coming, Tori." Sans mumbled, getting up. He came to the kitchen, and saw Frisk was already there. Chara was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Chara, kiddo?" Sans asked them.

 _I don't know._  Frisk shrugged. Suddenly, the two of them jumped as the door shut behind them. Toriel blocked the way, as she crossed her arms. She had a bit of an annoyed look on her face.

"Okay, who told Chara about puberty?" Toriel asked as the two looked at each other.

"Um...that's a good question." Sans replied nervously.

 _Well, it's not like they aren't going through it yet! We're the same age, and I'm going through it too._ Frisk signed.

"I was going to have them wait longer." Toriel glared at the child. "My child, I'm going to have to put you in time-out after dinner-"

"Tori, listen. I kinda hinted to it as well." Sans interrupted. "Look, don't punish the kiddo. They didn't know. I didn't know either."

"Sans." Toriel frowned.

"Tori." Sans replied. The two were silent, crossing their arms and glaring at each other as Frisk fidgeted uncomfortably.

 _Um…_  Frisk frowned.  _So, what's for dinner?_  They asked, trying to diffuse the situation.  _Guys?_ Frisk wrung their hands uncomfortably, moving to squeeze their arm as they felt the tension grow. Suddenly, they couldn't take it, and they felt tears start to stream down their face.

Someone banged on the door. "Guys? Can I come in?" Chara asked. And yet, despite all that was going on, Sans and Toriel remained glaring at each other.

"Guys!" Chara slammed the door harder. "Frisk, open the door!" Frisk ran to said door and attempted to open it, but couldn't due to Toriel standing in front of it.

"Ugh, okay, I guess I have to do this." Chara sighed. Within seconds, they had appeared inside the kitchen. "Frisk, grab my hand. We're taking a shortcut to Grillby's." Frisk did as the other kid instructed, and before Toriel could object, the two were gone.

* * *

 

The duo got a table at Grillby's and sat down. The two ordered fries, and then went ahead and waited it out.

"So, what exactly happened there?" Chara asked Frisk. Frisk started to explain. It didn't take too long, considering how short the series of events had been. By the time the food had been sat down, Chara was  _livid_.

"Why couldn't they see how uncomfortable you were?" Chara demanded.

 _Chara, calm down._  Frisk frowned, rubbing the table.

"You're right. I just need to calm down." Chara sighed. The duo ate their meal in silence.

"So, what do you want to do after this? Do you want to get some ice cream?" Chara asked after they had finished. Frisk nodded, and Chara could feel a bit of happiness coming from the child. They paid for the fries, and then left to get the ice cream from the Nice Cream Guy. Suddenly, Chara saw it. Across the road, Jimmy was walking with a black-haired girl that Chara didn't know, but they recognised her as being in the grade above them. The two were holding hands.

 _ **Hey, maybe I can use this as leverage against him.**_  Chara took at their phone and snapped a picture of the couple. Chara then hurried Frisk off with a race, and they let Frisk win. As they walked into the ice cream parlor, they smiled at the welcome sight. One of Mettaton's shows was playing on the TV, which was over a small play area for the kids to play at. Several people and monsters sat there, in fact. Soft music played in the background, and with the colorful scheme of the place, it gave it a happy atmosphere. Frisk and Chara walked forth to order some ice cream. Chara stared in surprise at all the flavors. There was bubblegum, and mint chocolate chip, and vanilla, and some more interesting flavors such as Night Sky, which looked like it was chocolate with some frosting bits mixed in. Eventually, the duo just decided to grab some chocolate ice cream.

 _Thank you._  Frisk signed as he gave them their chocolate ice cream.

"No problem, kiddo." He smiled. The two sat down at one of the tables to eat.

"Are you feeling better, Frisk?" Chara asked. The kid nodded as they took a bite of ice cream. "That's good." Suddenly, Chara had an idea. They smiled, and they knew Frisk realized what they were about to ask.

"So, you have a crush, huh? Who is it?" Chara asked innocently. Frisk gulped and blushed.

 _That...is not important…_  Frisk signed quickly. They added a couple other words that Chara was unable to decipher. They decided to drop the subject due to the fact that Frisk was clearly uncomfortable.

"Well, I'll drop it." Chara sighed. "In any case, we should talk about how we're going to get back at Jimmy." Frisk nodded.

 _I have some ideas._  Frisk pulled a piece of paper out of their shirt. Unfolding it, Chara could see that it was covered in words and sentences.

_We could go with what you suggested, in which we get together to work on a science fair project, and we set up an alarm system to get him in trouble. Or we could send Flowey to stalk him. You know, like how he did with me._

"Yes, I remember that." Chara nodded.

_Another idea is that we send Annoying Dog or Jerry to hang out with him._

"No, that's a little harsh. No one deserves to be around Jerry." Chara shook their head.

_We can also try to outdo him in the science fair. Like, we can take whatever idea he has and steal it, and make it better._

"That's a good idea, but it has some faults. If they figure out that we took his idea, we'll be cut from the science fair." Chara pointed out.

 _That's true._  Frisk sighed.

"Don't worry. We'll think of something." Chara added. Suddenly, the door opened.

"Well, speak of the devil." Chara muttered, as Jimmy walked in with a girl that Chara recognised. However, it was not the girl they had just seen him holding hands with earlier. Suddenly, they got an idea. An evil one. Chara took out their phone, and waited for the crucial moment. And they snapped the picture at the exact right time. Unfortunately, the flash had turned on, and Jimmy noticed that the flash had gone off. Chara quickly threw their phone to Frisk, and continued to talk to them.

"Well, in any case, what should we do for the science fair?" Chara asked.

 _Well, we need to ask Alphys._  Frisk signed.

"Hey, nerds. Speaking idiot again, aren't you?" Jimmy came over and taunted Frisk.

"Hey, shut up." Chara snapped.

"Oh, come on. Are you just jealous that I can get in a relationship, and you can't?" Jimmy taunted as he twirled the girl he was with closer, and kissed her. Frisk was clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"Shouldn't you be home? It's after 10 at night." Chara asked bluntly. They quickly signed to Frisk,

 _Lowkey record this conversation._  Frisk nodded, and took out their phone and pretended to play on it. But from where Chara was sitting, they could see that Frisk was recording Jimmy.

"Heh, speaking freak again, aren't you? What's the point?" Jimmy smirked.

"You didn't answer my question." Chara replied bluntly.

"Well, my mom's a bit of an idiot. She cares too much to actually check up on me. She thinks I'm at home in bed. Alex can snitch on me all he wants, she won't listen to him. I'm the 'poster child', after all." Jimmy sneered.

"Oh, really now?" Chara rolled their eyes.

"Oh, of course." Jimmy kissed the girl again, and Chara could see that he was grasping her butt.

 _ **That is**_ **so**   _ **not appropriate for a fucking ice cream parlor…**_  Chara sighed.

"Oh, are you jealous? Can you not get any action?" Jimmy taunted. "I bet you don't even know what we do together, just the two of us."

 _Frisk, do you want me to stop him?_  Chara signed to Frisk.

 _How about you hold the phone? I need to go to the bathroom._  Frisk handed the phone to Chara. Chara knew that it was because they did not want to hear it.

"Oh, believe me, I can guess." Chara replied.

"Let me just say, she has quite a mouth, she does." Jimmy smirked at the girl, who giggled.

 _ **YOU'RE IN SIXTH GRADE. WHY ARE YOU HAVING SEX?**_  Chara wanted to scream.

"Why, I bet Frisk has never felt anything like that-"

"Okay, talking about my sibling is where I cut the line." Chara snapped, turning off the camera. They got all they needed.

"Oh? Are you really protective of that freak?" Jimmy taunted. "How do I know that you're really siblings?"

"Excuse you, I have been around for many, many years." Chara snapped. "Much longer than you. I have been with Frisk since before they fell into the underground two years ago. I have been in millions of years worth of timelines. You do NOT want to mess with me when it comes to Frisk."

"Heh, you liar. You're just as demented as Frisk. With their autism, I wonder if you have the same." Jimmy sniffed, and then looked at his girlfriend. "You see? This girl right here is psycho." The girl- which Chara from then on named 'Blondie'- nodded.

"So, you use the right pronouns for Frisk, but not me?" Chara growled.

"Well, Frisk I can understand not having a gender. They look gender neutral. You, on the other hand...well, I can't say much more. I have a girlfriend, you see." Jimmy sneered again.

"So, I don't look gender neutral, so you must label me with a binary gender. That's what you're saying?" Chara raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. You have to look like you're gender neutral to be gender neutral. You look like a girl, so you are a girl." Jimmy smirked. "Look. I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I've got things to do."

"I'm things." Blondie giggled as the two walked out. Frisk came out of the bathroom seconds later.

 _Did you get that all on film?_  Frisk asked.

"I got the part I'm going to show to Linda. In front of the entire PTA. And then I've got more revenge planned." Chara said. "You see, earlier, I saw Jimmy holding hands with a black-haired girl earlier. However, this ditz that he was with was blonde. Ergo, he must be a nasty, dirty cheater." Chara flipped open their phone and it immediately went to the picture they had taken of Jimmy and Blondie kissing in front of the ice cream selection.

"And here, we have our revenge." Chara smiled evilly. This next PTA meeting was going to be  _fun._


	14. Of Determination and Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara's revenge on Jimmy starts off, and Chara, Frisk, Alex, and Alice go for a visit to Alphys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I'm so sorry for the late update ): I've hecka busy lately, and today was the first time in a while I've gotten a chance to sit down.

Chapter 14

 

“So, what you’re saying is, you have leverage on my brother?” Alex asked. Chara nodded.

“Yep. I have a couple of things, actually.” Chara took out their phone. “First off, do you know who his girlfriend is?”

“Yes, I do. She’s so nice. Her name’s Hailey.” Alex smiled.

“That’s cool. Unfortunately, she’s part of the plan for revenge.” Chara sighed as Alex’s smile dropped. “Do you happen to have her number so I can text her something?”

“Yep. She gave me hers because we got to know each other when she was visiting for a project.” Alex gave Chara the number.

* * *

 

Chara: Hello.

Hailey: Um, who is this?

Chara: That’s not important right now.

Hailey: Seems like something a creep would say. 

Chara: Look, I’m not a creep. I’m a sixth grader at your school, and I’m friends with your boyfriend’s brother.

Hailey: You mean Alex?

Chara: Yep. 

Hailey: What's your name?

Chara: Like I said, not important. Where are you right now? I need to give you important information, but I want to see your reaction.

Hailey: Creep.

Chara: Ugh, I’m not a creep! I just want to see how you react.

Hailey: Fine. I’m next to the Dance room for Intermediate Dance first period. I’m here waiting for Jimmy.

Chara: Okay. I’ll meet you there.

Hailey: How will I know it’s you?   
Chara: Ask me what my best trait is. The answer is determination.

Hailey: Alright.

* * *

 

Chara smiled. “She’s near the dance room. Let’s go!” They grabbed Frisk and Alex, and teleported with them to right next to the room.

“Whoa! What was that?” Alex blinked, seeming dazed.

“Oh, I took a shortcut. Listen, you can see us from here, but she can’t see you. Stay here.” Chara instructed. They then stepped out of the bushes.

“Hello there, Hailey.” Chara smiled. The girl was quite a bit taller than them, and upon closer look, Hailey was clearly Hispanic.

“Hi there. Are you the person I’m supposed to wait for?” Hailey asked, blinking her dark brown eyes.

“Yep.” Chara smiled.

“I don’t believe you. What’s your best trait?” Hailey demanded.

“Determination.” Chara replied back. Hailey still seemed wary, but Chara could see that she was convinced. “Look, I need to tell you something. It’s about your boyfriend.”

“Jimmy? What did he do?” Hailey asked in surprise.

“Well, I’ll let the evidence do the talking.” Chara handed her their phone. “There’s a video, just swipe to see it after the picture.” Hailey looked at the picture, and Chara could see a glimmer of anger in her eyes. Chara watched in silence as Hailey watched, slowly growing angrier and angrier as Jimmy made several innuendos and kissed Blondie.

“How. Dare. He!” Hailey snapped, handing Chara back their phone. “I’m gonna kill him!” She started to curse loudly as Chara dove back into the bushes. Jimmy then arrived.

“Jimmy, you dick!” Hailey yelled at him.

“W-what did I do?” Jimmy retorted.

“You were with the school slut yesterday! After you fucking dropped me off at home, and said you were going to walk around a bit, you go ahead and fuck Britany!”

“Who says I did?” 

“I don’t know their name, but don’t you dare change the subject!”   
“Look, babe, I don’t know who you-”

“Don’t ‘babe’ me!” Hailey snapped. “You cheated, so you get the punishment.”

“Oh really?” Jimmy smirked, raising an eyebrow. Hailey slapped him.

“We’re done! Go fuck that bitch if you want someone.” Hailey walked off to go inside the dance room.

“I bet that bitch is behind this.” Jimmy muttered. “I swear, I’m gonna fight her.”

“Let’s get out of here.” Chara muttered to Alex and Frisk, grabbing their hands and using a shortcut to get back to the front of the school.

“Wow, that’s still super disorienting.” Alex shook his head to get a better grip on it all.

“Okay, let’s go see if we can find Alice to discuss the science fair.” Chara dropped their hands and went looking for the girl. They eventually found her by the science classrooms.

“Hi, Alice.” Chara greeted her.

“O-oh, hey Chara.” Alice smiled.

“Okay, we all need to talk about the Science fair.” Chara announced.

“Well, I was thinking, that maybe we could do a baking soda volcano?” Alex suggested.

“No.” Alice said, with such conviction in her voice, that it startled the three of them.

“Okay, what do you think we should do?” Chara asked.

“I say we should do something involving actual, professional science, and not something that can be done in five seconds.” Alice replied.

“I agree.” Chara said, as Frisk nodded.

_ Any ideas? _

“Um, I didn’t think this far.” Alice frowned. “N-normally people gloss over my ideas.”

“It’s fine. I actually had an idea to visit Alphys to get an idea or two.” Chara said as Alice gasped.

“Alphys? You mean THE Doctor Alphys, a monster from the underground, the creator of Mettaton, and one of the best scientists in this country?” Alice stared in awe.

“Yep.” Chara blinked in surprise. “Can you go after school?”   
“I wish, but I told my d-dad that school ends a good hour after it actually does, and he expects me to get home a half an hour on the dot after it ends.” Alice sighed.

“You can’t be a minute or two late?” Chara asked in surprise. Alice shook her head.

“He’s very strict.” Alice said, without elaborating. “So yeah, I can’t go unless I ask permission.”

“Well, you don’t have to, because we have a mode of transportation that takes literally five seconds.” Alex said.

“Wait, what?” Alice blinked in surprise.

“So, can you guys come to the dance room after school?” Chara asked.

“Sure.” Alex said.

_ Yep. _ Frisk signed. The three of them looked at Alice, who sighed.

“Alright, I’ll go.” The three cheered.

* * *

 

After school ended, they all met at the dance room.

“Hey, Mettaton? Can you let Sans and Mom know that we’re heading to Alphys’ lab?” Chara asked.

“Why, I can take you guys if you want.” Mettaton offerred.

“No thanks, we’re taking a shortcut.” Chara replied.

“Okay, sweethearts. I’ll see you later then. Tata~” Mettaton smiled as he left.

“Okay, let’s go.” Chara grabbed Frisk’s and Alex’s hands, and Frisk grabbed Alice’s. Chara then took off running as she jumped into a portal. When they left the portal, they were in Alphys’ lab.

“Whoa! What was that?” Alice asked, a bit dazed.

“A shortcut.” Chara smiled. “Anyways, let’s go to Alphys and get some ideas.”

The four walked a bit to get to Alphys. The lizard was watching something and eating a cup of instant noodles. Chara walked up to her silently.

“Hey Alphys.” Chara smiled. Alphys jumped about a foot and turned to the child.

“Oh, h-hi guys.” Alphys replied. “Who are you?”

“I’m Alice!” Alice smiled. “It’s so nice to meet you, I really look up to you!”

“Y-you do?”

“Of course! You’re amazing!”

“O-o-oh, thanks.” Alphys blushed.

“I’m Alex.” Alex introduced himself.

“We’re here to get ideas for science projects.” Alice explained. Alphys perked up immediately as she heard that.

“Well, you sure came to the right place.” Alphys smiled. “Come with me.”

The four followed her to a room that was VERY familiar to Frisk and Chara. It contained a SAVE point and an odd looking machine that was very familiar to a certain face.

“Um, excuse me? Do you mind moving?” Alphys asked the SAVE point, as it turned into a certain Amalgamate, and faded away. Frisk and Chara just stared at it, while Alex and Alice looked confused.

“What was that?” Alice asked.

“That was Lemon Bread.” Alphys explained. “The amalgamates tend to hang out here occasionally. It’s probably because they’ve spent years here.”

“Years? Why does it look like that?” Alice frowned.

“Because they were the result of an experiment that failed horribly.” Alphys said in a tone that implied that she didn’t want to talk about it. “Which, ironically, relates to an experiment that I had an idea for. You see, humans have a certain element to them, called Determination.”

“Determination?” Alex asked.

“Yes. Frisk here is probably the one around with the most of it, and while it doesn’t work right in the overworld, back when we were underground, Frisk had the ability to SAVE and RESET. Basically, if there was a SAVE point, which was the shape that Lemon Bread was taking before, Frisk could SAVE there, and if they died, then they would come back to that save point. They could also raise their HP.”

“HP? SAVE? RESET? Geeze, this is starting to sound like a video game.” Alice commented.

“I wonder why?” Chara responded sarcastically, as they stared right in front of them, almost into a camera, as if they were talking to a certain person or people.

“Well, yeah it does. But that how it worked. RESET did exactly how it sounds, they could RESET back to either a save point or back to when they first fell into the Underground.” Alphys explained. “What the experiment details, is how different traits affect Determination. For example, I have a tool right here that can see a person’s soul and tell what color it is. It’s on a spectrum of White to Red, White being least Determined, Red being the most. It goes from White, Grey, Brown, Purple, Dark Blue, Light blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Pink, and then Red. There’s also certain creatures that do not have a soul, like Flowey. Their ‘soul’ would not appear in the thing, so the screen would just flash whatever color is their determination. For those who do have a soul, it would appear as a heart shape.”

“Okay, so what are we testing?” Alice asked excitedly. It was very clear that she found this interesting.

“I want to see what is the correlation with a person’s most prominent trait and the strength of their Determination.” Alphys explained.

“You can probably test me and Frisk.” Chara commented. “The only problem is, Sans told us what our Determination was triggered by, mine was by FIGHTING in battle, and Frisk’s was by showing MERCY.”

“Ah, yes, Sans. He’s a bit wrong there. It’s more along the lines of your most prominent trait is being violent, and Frisk’s is being kind.” Alphys explained.

“Oh.” Chara felt their heart drop for some reason.

“Well? Do you guys think this is a good idea?” Alphys asked.

“I think so. No one else is going to do anything similar to this.” Alex stated.

“I agree with Alex.” Alice added.

“Yep.” Chara said, as Frisk nodded.

“Then it’s settled!” Alphys smiled.

* * *

 

As they all took a shortcut back to the school, Alice looked at the time.

“Well, I have a half an hour to get h-home, which is good because that’s how long it takes to walk.” Alice started sounding more like her usual, shy self.

“That’s good. I can take you on a shortcut if you want.” Chara offered.

“N-no thanks. Dad gets m-mad if he thinks I’m skipping, and he’ll realize I lied about the time that school ends. I try to get home a h-half an hour after I told him school ends, and not a m-minute later.” Alice explained.

“Okaay.” Chara frowned. “Alex, do you need a way home?”

“If you can, that’d be nice.” Alex smiled.

“Okay, I guess I will see you tomorrow then.” Chara said to Alice, turning to talk to her. But the girl was already gone. “Wow, she moves fast.”

_ We’ll see her tomorrow. _ Frisk signed.  _ Let’s go already! _ Frisk grabbed Chara’s hand as Alex grabbed their other. Chara quickly ran to take a shortcut, and ended up in front of Alex’s house.

“Thank you again.” Alex smiled.

“You’re welcome. See you later!” Chara waved as they grabbed Frisk’s hand and took another shortcut to get to their house. When they walked in, Toriel greeted them.

“Good evening, my children.” Toriel smiled.

“Hey mom.” Chara replied, slightly angry from when the goat upset Frisk.

“...I can see that you are upset with me. I apologise for that, Chara.” Toriel kneeled down to the child’s height. “Sans is as well. We should not have upset you or Frisk. I wanted to let you know that we need to take a short vacation over the weekend.”

“So in about five days?” Chara asked.

“Yes, my child. We will be leaving for five days starting on Friday evening. In the meantime, you will be babysat by Asgore.” Frisk gasped happily.

_ Grandpa Asgore! _ Frisk signed excitedly.

“Yes, Grandpa Asgore.” Toriel laughed. “Again, I am sorry for that arguement. I made chocolate pie if you want some.” Chara’s face lit up.

“I forgive you, Mom!” Chara hugged her, then ran into the kitchen. Toriel laughed.


	15. Alice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprise comes at midnight to the doorstep of the Dreemurr house.

Chapter 15

 

Sans was looking out the window at the rain softly tapping on the glass. It was a peaceful sight, for it was well after midnight and the moon was fully out. The only sight blocking it was the sight of the street lights placed specifically around the street. And several shadows running around.

“Sans, what are you doing?” Sans heard the female voice.

“Just looking outside at the stars. Despite the rain, they’re still there. Always are.”

“You do seem to like the night.” Toriel commented, sitting next to him. “It is rather peaceful. I was but a small child last time I saw the stars.”

“Are they still the same as they were back then?” Sans asked, putting his arm around Toriel.

“Yes. I missed seeing the sky.” Toriel sighed. “I always dreamed of seeing the stars with the one I loved as a child. Just like this, his arm around me, just watching.”

“Sure seems like you’re happy.” Sans chuckled. And the two sat in silence, just watching the twinkles of light among the drops of water falling from the sky. Their peaceful night was suddenly interrupted as they heard an urgent knock at the door.

“Should we ignore it?” Sans asked.

“For now. Why would someone knock? It’s after midnight.” Toriel questioned. The knocking grew louder and more desperate, as if the knocker was throwing something at the door.

“Fine, I’ll go get it.” Sans sighed getting up and taking a shortcut downstairs. He looked in the window, only to be suddenly confused.

**_Why is she here?_ ** Sans opened the door to reveal a smaller girl with soaked blonde hair and pajamas. The most surprising, was that she had what looked like a muffle around her neck, as if it had come off, and some rope tied around her wrists, with some extra rope that was frayed at the ends as if it had been roughly cut. She was breathing heavily, and kept looking behind her.

“P-pl-please let m-me in…” Alice begged hoarsely, as if her life depended on it, and she suddenly coughed into her elbow. Sans could see some red spots on her elbow where she had coughed.

“Hurry up and come in.” Horrified at her state, Sans immediately grabbed the girl, shut the door, and put her on the couch. The girl shivered as she looked up at the skeleton, and absentmindedly attempted to rip off the rope. “I’m gonna go get Tori.” Sans added as he took another shortcut upstairs.

“Tori, it’s Alice.” Sans said, suddenly serious.

“Paul’s daughter? Why is she here?” Toriel frowned.

“I don’t know, but it seems like she was trying to escape from something or someone. She had rope around her wrists as if she was tied up, a muffle around her neck, and she was coughing up blood.” Sans explained. As he mentioned the blood, Toriel sped downstairs. Sans took another shortcut and saw the goat mother putting some blankets on Alice.

“There my child. It seems you had a horrible encounter. What exactly happened, if you don’t mind me asking.” Toriel asked. Alice shook and grabbed her arms.

“I-I do-don’t want to t-t-talk about it…” Alice looked to her left.

“Well, I am here if you want to talk, as is Sans.” Toriel smiled at Sans and signed something to him.

_ Something’s off. _

_ I know. _ Sans signed back. “Yeah kiddo, I’m here.”

“O-o-okay…” Alice pulled her blankets closer to her.

Sans stood a short distance away. He knew that all he had to do was activate that power, and he could see her stats. Sans closed his eyes, and then opened them. Rather than the sight he had seen before, Alice was now surrounded by her statistics. LV 1, 10 HP. Hmm, that was odd, normally he had seen humans have at least 20 HP. But what was even worse, she was only at 4 out of 10 HP.

**_Why is it only at 4 out of 10 HP? She doesn’t seem to be hurt. But why is it so low in the first place?_ **

“Here, my child, I will get you a cup of tea.” Toriel smiled and went to the kitchen. Sans followed her.

“Tori, there is something odd about her. You know about HP, right?”

“Yes, it’s a measure of how much health one has.” Toriel said.

“Well, kind of. If you get hurt, you can lose health.” Sans explained. “But the amount of HP one has is their level of HOPE.”

“HOPE?” Toriel frowned.

“Yes. The more HOPE one has, the harder it is for them to die. That’s why it’s so easy for a person to kill themselves, because their hope is so low in the first place. In any case, humans generally have anywhere from 20-30 HP. But Alice only has 10.” Toriel almost dropped her cup in surprise. She looked at Sans in shock. “Why is that?”

“I have no idea. But you might want to give her the tea now.” Sans added. 

“Oh! Right.” Toriel rushed back out.

“T-thank you, Miss Dreemurr.” Alice quietly mentioned as she accepted the tea. As she took a drink, her face changed a bit. “That’s really g-good. What type is it?”

“It’s Golden Flower tea.” Toriel smiled. “I am glad you like it.”

“So, I understand you don’t want to talk about the encounter, kiddo, but why exactly are you out so late?” Sans asked. “I’m sure your dad must be worried about you.”

“Oh.” Alice replied, then coughed. “I’m s-sure he i-isn’t exactly worried right now.”

“How do you know that?” Toriel questioned in surprise. Alice shrugged and took a drink.

“It’s n-not the first time I’ve run off.” She shuddered at the thought of something, but Sans couldn’t tell what it was. “Well, um..do you mind if I stay here for a little while?” Alice asked.

“Will your-” Toriel stopped when she saw Alice’s face drop. “I guess it’s okay with me. Is it okay with you, Sans?”

“Yep, it’s fine with me, Tori.” Sans shrugged.  **_I need to find out why her HP is so unusually low._ **

* * *

 

Chara sighed from where they were lying in bed. They were smiling happily as they imagined the look on Linda’s ugly, makeup caked face as Chara showed the video of her ‘darling model’ son. Although, as they heard the commotion downstairs, their thoughts quickly turned to Alice.

**_Why is she here?_ ** Groaning, Chara sat up in bed and rubbed their eyes.  **_Brr, it’s cold._ ** Chara shivered as they pulled a blanket back over themselves. Slowly rising up, they pulled the blanket closer as they checked to see if Frisk was awake, thankfully finding the other child to be asleep. 

**_Why is it so cold today?_ ** Chara slowly got up and sluggingly treaded down the hall and to the stairs. As they slowly moved down the stairs, they noticed that something was off about Alice.

**_She’s almost more nervous than normal._ ** Suddenly, they sneezed, and teleported downstairs.

“What?” Chara muttered as Toriel jumped. 

“How did you get down here, my child?” Toriel asked in shock.

“I don’t know.” Chara frowned. “I just sneezed and suddenly, I was down here.”

“Ah, you sneezed?” Sans replied. 

“What does that have to do with it?” Toriel asked.

“When a monster with teleporting power sneezes, coughs, or anything like that, they can teleport to a random spot if they are not super in control of their powers.” Sans explained. “It’s a good thing monsters can’t get sick. Although, I guess humans can. I don’t know exactly what it’ll be with you.” Sans said to Chara.

“Um, i-isn’t Chara a h-human?” Alice quietly asked from the sofa, then coughed again. Chara frowned at Alice’s state of being, what with the rope and muffle. Chara sighed and put their blanket on Alice’s lap. Well, there goes my warmth.

“That’s a bit of a long story.” Chara replied curtly. “The short answer is, yes and no.”

“Oh.” Alice took another sip of tea. “I-is that why you can take the shortcuts?”

“Yes.” Chara sat down and rubbed their arms.

“Here, I will get you a blanket too, my child.” Toriel smiled and walked off. Sans sat down between the two.

“So, kiddos, what are you guys working on for a science project?” Sans asked.

“Oh, we’re testing Determination in humans.” Chara explained. “Alphys gave me a thing to see what color people’s souls are, the color of one’s soul shows how determined they are. Oh, how about we test your soul, Alice? I know we can’t use that data, but I’m curious.”

“Oh, okay.” Alice said quietly. “Um, I don’t know what my trait would be though…”

“Okay, so let me go grab it.” Chara ran back upstairs, grabbed the device, and went back down. Suddenly Alice’s previous words hit them. “Wait, what do you mean you don’t know what your trait would be?” Alice shrugged.

“I put myself into everything I do. And I don’t put any thought into myself other than if I am well.” Alice shrugged. “It’s...easy to take your mind off of things.”

“So, your trait would be hardworking?” Chara asked.

“I...honestly don’t know.” Alice admitted. “Probably.”

“Okay.” Chara sighed, while Sans was studying Alice. Toriel then returned with another blanket for Chara.

“Well, would you two like to watch something or play a game?” Toriel asked.

“S-sure. What do you want to play?” Alice asked.

“You’re the guest. You decide.” Chara said.

“Oh. Um…” Alice frowned. “What games do you have?”

“We have monopoly.” Chara offered.

“No.” Sans shut it down.

“What? It’s not my fault you suck at monopoly.” Chara retorted playfully.

“You made a throne out of monopoly money. I don’t think there’s even that much money in the game.” Sans countered.

“Oh well. Maybe not that, then.” Chara said. Alice smiled a bit at their tirade, then coughed again.

“Do...do you have chess or something like that?” Alice asked quietly.

“Yep. I’ll get it.” Chara said, getting up. They quickly grabbed the chess game from the closet and brought it back, setting it on the ground. Alice moved from the couch to the ground, plucking at the rope on her wrists.

“Here, let me get that for you.” Chara offered.

“Oh, n-no thanks. I almost got it.” Alice replied as she pulled one rope free from her wrist and started on the other.

“Well, I’m leaving her in your care, Chara.” Toriel said. “Sans and I are going back to bed.”

“Okay, ‘night Mom!” Chara smiled.

“Goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Dreemurr.” Alice added quietly.

“Okay.” Chara started to set up the game. As they finished, Alice got the other rope off her wrist and pulled the muffle off over her head.

**_That’s awfully suspicious. Alice just shows up at our doorstep at midnight, looking like a kidnapping victim?_ **

“So, what’s the story behind the rope and muffle?” Chara asked.

“Oh, it’s no big deal.” Alice insisted.

“Alice. There are starting to be bruises on your wrists from the rope. What happened to you?” Chara stated coldly. Alice rubbed her wrists uncomfortably.

“It’s n-no-nothing.” Alice frowned.

“Your wrists are bruised. Your voice is hoarse. You’re coughing up blood. You came to us in the middle of the night, with rope tied around your wrists, and a muffle that fell off of your mouth. What happened to you? Don’t try to say that nothing happened, because something certainly did.” Chara retorted.

“...I...was…” Alice started to say. “...attacked on my way back from school.”

“Wait, what?” Chara dropped the piece they moved.

“Yeah, I, uh, got attacked by someone.” Alice said. “It was pretty bad, I got knocked out for most of it. I woke up not too long ago, and I managed to get away after breaking my ropes.” She moved a piece.

“We’ve got to call the police or something!” Chara yelped. They absentmindedly moved another piece.

“No, i-it’s fine. I don’t remember anything ab-about them. It would probably get thrown out as having no evidence.” Alice insisted, moving a piece.

“Okay...but you’ve got to tell one of us as soon as you remember something. Anything!” Chara insisted, moving a piece.

“O-okay. I promise.” Alice sighed. “Checkmate.” Alice added, knocking over the king.

“Wait, what? How did you do that?” Chara demanded.


	16. Full Out Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice goes to Snowdin to fix a machine, Chara pulls the ultimate revenge on Jimmy, and Sans finds out that a certain someone is lying to him...

Chapter 16

 

Sans hummed as he washed the dishes.

"Can I help?" Sans perked up at the small voice. He turned to see Alice.

"Sheesh, what happened to you, kiddo?" Sans almost dropped the dish he was holding in shock. Alice had bruises on her neck, over her eye, and as far as Sans could tell with her shirt, her shoulders and arms were also heavily bruised.

"Oh." Alice lightly touched her arm. "I-it must have been my attacker."

"Yeah, Chara told us about them. Are you sure you don't want us to call the police? They sure did a number on you."

"I remember nothing of them." Alice replied.

"Okay, kiddo, if you're sure." Sans looked at her suspiciously. "Well, you can help me dry these dishes. I'll hand you them, you dry them with that towel."

"Okay." Alice smiled. She picked up the towel and started to dry the dishes that the skeleton handed her.

"So, what classes do you have with Frisk or Chara?" Sans asked.

"I have dance with Chara. That's it." Alice replied.

"Cool. What other classes do you have?"

"Advanced Physiology, AP Statistics, 6th grade English, 6th grade history, Engineering, and Dance."

"Wow, kiddo, those are some tough classes." Sans replied, surprised.

"I really like science and math." Alice smiled.

"Hey. You know, I have something you might just be able to help me with." Sans turned off the sink.

"What is it?" Alice asked in surprise.

"It's a little machine back at my old home. Would you like to help?" Sans offered her his hand.

"Sure." Alice said, taking it as they took a shortcut to Snowdin. The oddly bright, snowy, cold air hit his face, bringing back memories, both good and bad. He handed Alice his jacket, as he noticed that she was shivering.

"Whoa, where are we?" Alice asked as she pulled it on, surprised.

"Welcome to my old home, Snowdin." Sans smiled as she walked to a spot in front of the old Inn. Specifically, one where there was a SAVE point. She stuck her hands into it, and Sans just knew she was feeling determined.

"Hey, I wouldn't SAVE if I were you." Sans warned. Alice froze, nodded, and walked away from it. Sans, however, noticed that her bruises were gone.

"Sorry."

"It's fine." Sans motioned for her to follow him. He grabbed the spare key to behind the house. As it opened, Alice gasped in surprise at the old room. Blueprints covered one of the shelves in a font that somehow, Sans could read, but didn't recall. And in the corner, an old broken machine lay.

"This was supposed to be a machine that could bring monsters that fell down back. A prototype of Alphys' project." Sans explained. "We had used one trial of it. It worked, but the machine broke. We were never able to fix it." Alice nodded, thinking.

"Let me see it." She said. As Sans uncovered the machine, she walked towards it.

"Let's see, it's just very easy to fix. All we need is to…" Sans watched as she went into an extraordinarily hard explanation of how to fix the machine, one that even he couldn't comprehend. As she talked, Sans saw a bit of happiness in her, a bit of life that hadn't been there before.

"...And with that, the machine should be fixed. And it should not break again." Alice announced, and for the first time, Sans could see who she really was. A smart child with a love for science.

"Wow. Thanks, kiddo." Sans was speechless.

"No, thank you. I haven't done a huge project like that in years." Alice smiled.

"We should probably head back now. I have the PTA meeting to go to tonight." Sans said.

"Do...do I have to go?" Alice asked.

"Not if you don't want to." Sans shrugged. Alice sighed in relief.

"Well, let's head back." Sans grabbed her hand.

"Wait! Can I stay here for a bit longer?" Alice asked.

"I don't see why not." Sans shrugged. "Just remember: You can use the SAVE points, just don't actually save, just wait until you feel Determined. Also, don't hurt anything."

"Got it." Alice nodded. "Thank you, Sans." She smiled.

* * *

Sans came back to the house, meeting Toriel, Frisk, and Chara there.

"Oh, hello Sans. Where's Alice?" Toriel asked.

"We visited Snowdin. She asked to stay for a bit longer." Sans explained.

"Oh really? I was going to bring her back to her dad." Toriel replied in surprise.

"Well, we can always return her later. She didn't really want to go to the meeting anyways." Sans shrugged. "Do you have the cupcakes?"

"Yes, I have them right here." Toriel pointed at the cupcakes on the stove.

"Alright then. Let's go kiddos." Sans picked up Frisk and put them on this shoulders, took Chara's hand, and then walked to the car.

* * *

Chara cracked their knuckles.

This PTA meeting was going to be GREAT. They met Alex at the meeting as they walked in.

"Do you have the footage?" He asked.

"Of course." Chara smiled.

"Awesome." Alex fist bumped them. "Hey, where's Alice?"

"Oh, I don't know." Chara shrugged, then signed to Frisk not to tell him. They shrugged as well.

"Alright." Alex sighed. "Well, I guess we can talk to her later."

"Yep." Chara said, walking over to the food table. They picked up a plate of food, with a good mixture of chocolate brownies, junk food, and healthy stuff. Suddenly, their plate was taken away from them as they glared up at David.

"Sweetie, this stuff is bad for you. You shouldn't be eating it." David told them condescendingly.

"I don't give a shit. Give me my chocolate!" Chara jumped up in an attempt to grab it, but he held the plate just above her grasping hands.

"Whoa there. What's going on, David?" Sans walked over, his hands in his pockets.

"I'm giving your child a chance to be healthy for once." David snapped. "She's too big. She needs to lose weight." Sans could see Chara flinch slightly at the wrong pronouns.

"Oh, shut up, you hypocrite. Tori makes perfectly healthy food all the time, PTA meetings and when the kids are sad are the only time Tori makes this kind of stuff." Sans replied. "Besides, you constantly bring McDonald's to school for your kid to eat. I only do it once a week or so."

"Well, boys need the food. They're growing, you know. But both of your little girls are too fat. Both your daughters need to lose weight and not eat so much." David replied, throwing Chara's plate into the trash. Chara frowned, feeling angrier and angrier at the misgendering. He started to make a plate of just fruit to give to the child, when he was suddenly frozen in place by Sans.

"You. Did. Not. Just. Say. That." Sans scowled, his pupils disappearing as he held his hand out. "My children are a perfectly good weight. Unlike you, you piece of shit." Sans snapped.

"Well, I can't exactly see their bones, so clearly, they are overweight." David retorted.

"Just look in the mirror at yourself! You're fat as hell." Sans retorted. "And since when did not being able to see their bones mean they are overweight?"

"Men can't be fat." David snorted, ignoring the last part of Sans' words.

"You're kidding, right?" Sans glared at him. "Now, give Chara back their brownies and chocolate."

"No." David glared. The two glared at each other, until Sans let him go, knowing that he couldn't do anything with the rest of the PTA in the room.

"That's what I thought." David sniffed, kneeling down to give Chara the plate of fruit. "There you go, so you can be healthy for once. Don't eat the entire plate, okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't." Chara smiled innocently. "In fact, here you go!" Chara shoved the plate in his face. "Apparently, people like me shouldn't be eating much anyways according to you." Chara shrugged, quietly levitated their plate of brownies and junk food out of the trash, and then ran to meet Alex.

"Heh. That's what you deserve, you chicken fried fuck." Sans shrugged, grabbed a ketchup bottle, and walked off, leaving the older adult stunned.

Chara hooked up their phone to the projector screen, and went to the video.

"You ready?" Alex asked.

"Yep." Chara smiled.

"Hey, whatcha doing, nerds?" Chara jumped at Jimmy's voice.

"Oh, nothing." Chara smiled.

"You sure?" Jimmy asked, walking closer to them. Chara stayed put.

"Yep. Hey, why don't you go eat some junk food or something?" Chara suggested.

"Look, I know you were the cause of my girlfriend breaking up with me." Jimmy's tone took a darker turn.

"Oh? I didn't know she broke up with you. What happened?" Chara's voice was full of fake sympathy.

"Don't play dumb." Jimmy glared at them. "She knew I was at the Ice Cream Shop with Britany. You were the only other person there."

"Huh. That's strange." Chara frowned, eating a brownie. "I didn't do anything. She must have heard about it through the grapevine. I heard that Britany has 'quite the mouth' after all."

"Oh, shut up." Jimmy put his hands in his pockets. "Britany doesn't kiss and tell."

"Oh well. Now why don't you go bug someone else?" Chara shrugged.

"No." Jimmy stood right in front of them, staring down at them. Chara knew they were likely screwed if it came to a fight, but if they were to just take him by surprise…

_**No, someone would see. Ugh, I wish that, I don't know, time would stop so I can beat his ass?** _

Thankfully, Jimmy seemed to see that other people were watching.

"You and me, tomorrow after school. Behind the locker rooms. No cameras there. It's time to square up." Jimmy punched his hand with his other hand, then walked off.

"Alright. See you then." Chara shrugged.

"You aren't worried that he's going to seriously hurt you?" Alex asked.

"Nope. I have a special attack or two that I've learned." Chara shrugged, winking as their eyes turned black with a red pupil for a split second, then went back to their normal. "Anyways, let's get this set up." Chara plugged in the phone and motioned to Frisk, who was standing next to the projector, and they turned it on. Chara pressed play, and slowly, the adults started to notice. When they started to hear the innuendos that Jimmy was making, the mothers and fathers ran for their children, to hide their ears from the horrible sayings, with many a confusion about what Jimmy was saying from said kids. It was a beautiful chaos, with a horror-struck Jimmy in the middle. And as Chara turned to his mother, they saw her horrified face, turning bright red from humiliation, conflicting with her beach blonde hair and horrible makeup, as she turned to her favorite child, and yelled, at the top of her lungs,

"JAMES CARTER WALKINS, YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE, MISTER!" Linda screamed, at the top of her lungs, as she dragged him out by his ears to outside the classroom. As Jimmy was dragged by Chara, he flipped them off, Chara returning it with both hands. By the time the video ended, and everyone had calmed down from the chaos, Linda's lecturing tone could still be heard yelling at Jimmy from outside.

"So worth it." Chara cracked their knuckles, smiling as they high-fived Alex.

* * *

Sans chuckled to himself as Chara and Alex high-fived. Who else could he have expected to pull off such an elaborate scheme? And now, all the moms were protectively holding their children, including Tori, who was now gathering Chara and Alex, with a couple of the other children running off from their mothers to cling onto her fur. Sans took in the sight as someone tapped his shoulder.

"Heya." Sans turned to see Paul, who had his arms crossed, and was tapping one finger on his arm.

"Hi." He replied stiffly. "Have you, by chance, seen my daughter around anywhere?"

"I think I may have, why do you ask?" Sans replied.

"You did?" Paul asked, a bit of hope in his eyes. "She went missing late last night, around 10ish."

"Around 10ish? So she was at your house until then?" Sans blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, she was." Paul frowned.

"She came by our house last night, and we gave her shelter from the rain. She was badly hurt, but she felt better the next day and left. She told us she was going back to your house, but if you haven't seen her, I guess not." Sans lied.  _ **Why did Alice lie to us?**_

"Do you know which way she went?" Paul asked, seeming to show no concern that she was hurt.

"No." Sans looked at him suspiciously. "You don't seem particularly concerned that she was hurt."

"Oh, she tends to be clumsy. You know, occasionally trip and scrape a knee, or fall and get a bruise on her thigh, or whatever. You probably wouldn't know that. You know, since you're a skeleton and all that." Paul replied nonchalantly.

"But she looked like she was kidnapped or something. She had rope around her wrists-"

"Bah, the old rope trick. She does it for attention. Pretends she was kidnapped just to get the attention for it. I told her to stay off those websites…" Paul snorted, muttering angrily the last part to himself. Sans didn't know what exactly it was, but something in his tone tipped him off to realize something was clearly wrong. And it had been, since the beginning of the conversation. He then noticed that Paul's hand was bandaged, and thee was a small bloodstain in the middle of his hand.

"What happened to your hand?"

"Oh, I cut myself while cooking." Paul explained.

"In the middle of your hand?" Sans raised an eyebrow.

"Yep." Paul shrugged.

"Wouldn't it be through one of the sides if you cut your hand?"

"Now, that isn't really your business, is it?" Paul asked warningly. That tipped Sans off. He decided to check out his stats. As his eyes went dark, Paul's statistics popped up. Sans was surprised by them.

LV 5. 30/36 HP

_**They're higher than normal? But he hasn't killed anyone, as far as I know...I should probably keep this to myself for now.** _

"...I'd better go back to Tori. She looks like she needs help." Sans gritted his teeth and walked back to his wife, who was holding Frisk in one arm, Chara in the other, and had several children holding onto her fluff. They could still hear Linda yelling at Jimmy, which made him chuckle.

 _I just talked to Paul._  Sans signed quickly enough so that Frisk couldn't catch what he was signing. Chara clearly seemed to understand, however. Tori put Chara down and signed with her free hand,

_What happened?_

_One of them is lying to us, Tori. It's either Alice or Paul, but one of the two are lying to us about what happened last night._

_Oh really?_

_Yep. I need to find out more about Paul. Alice doesn't seem like the type to lie, but Paul gave me a story that completely contradicted hers._

_Huh._

"So, are you guys done chatting, or what? Linda just walked back in." Chara nodded to the blonde, who was walking back in. Jimmy was noticably absent, however.

"Yep. Let's go sit down, Tori." Sans grabbed her free arm and led her to the seat.

* * *

The PTA meeting went by very quickly, and Sans drove the four of them home. As they walked in, he said,

"I'm gonna go talk to Alice."

"Okay." Toriel nodded as Sans teleported away, back to Snowdin. He couldn't see the girl anywhere, although he noticed the light was on in Grillby's. As he walked in, he saw the firey bartender giving the girl some fries.

"Heya, kiddo." Sans smiled.

"Hi Sans." Alice replied, eating a fry. "How'd the meeting go?"

"Pretty well. Chara totally embarrassed Jimmy and Linda in front of the entire PTA."

"Nice!' Alice laughed.

"Alright, enough with the chit chat." Sans said as her smile faded. Sans paused time, and turned to her, his eyes dark.

"You know, I don't really appreciate liars." Sans said, as Alice visibly paled. "So, tell me;  _what actually happened last night_?"


	17. The truth comes out (Kind of)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice tells some of the truth, and a mysterious figure starts to come into play...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, thank you guys so much for all of the well wishes!
> 
> I just got cleared today for ice dance and moves in the field, although I still can't jump or spin yet.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the chapter, and just remember: as much as stuff went down in this chapter, shit gets REAL next chapter.
> 
> And I mean, REAL.
> 
> Enjoy~

Chapter 17

 

“W-what are you talking about? I told you what happened!” Alice retorted, clearly shocked.

“Well, your father told me a completely different story.” Sans leaned on the bar. “He said that you ran away at about 10ish last night.”

“What?” Alice stared at him.

“He also said that you made up being attacked and the rope for attention. He said you’re clumsy, and that’s why you get bruises and injuries.” Sans said.

“But I didn’t!” Alice cried out. “I was attacked!”

“Look, either tell the truth, or I’ll-” Sans realized that Alice was shaking horribly, and had a scared impression on her face.

**_Am I scaring her?_ **

“Alright, sorry.” Sans lowered his voice, which he had been unknowingly raising. “Just tell me what actually happened, and I’ll drop it.”

“...” Alice looked to the side and muttered something.

“What was that?” Sans asked.

“Can’t.” Alice said, a bit louder.

“You can’t?” Sans replied in surprise.

“I...I just can’t.” Alice frowned. “I...I did see my attacker. But I can’t tell you who he was.”

“What?” **_So the truth finally comes out…_ **

“Why?”

“I...I can’t tell you. I made a promise.” Alice said.

“What promise?” Sans demanded.

“He...they told me that if I told, they would hunt me down. And they would make sure that I had a horrible, painful death.” Alice confessed.

“What!? That’s horrible!” Sans stared at the young girl in shock.

“It is.” Alice admitted. “I...I can’t tell anyone else. Please just...don’t talk about it to anyone. I know you tell Toriel about it through sign, even if I can’t tell what you’re saying.”

**_! How does she know that?_ **

“But, I can tell you that elements from both our stories are true. I was attacked last night, but I couldn’t tell you the time. I did, however, also run away after 10 last night.” Alice finally told the truth.

“Is that it?” Sans asked. She nodded, and Sans realized she was crying.

“...please don’t make me remember more of it…” Alice whimpered, grabbing her left arm.

“Okay. I won’t.” Sans felt sorry for the poor girl. He hadn’t even thought about how hurt she must feel, he just wanted the truth. “If you do remember anything, please let me know. And not just through Chara. I want you to tell me in person. Got it?” Alice nodded, and then opened her mouth to say something before deciding to close it.

“Alright.” Sans resumed time, and Alice looked around in confusion.

“You may want to eat those before they get cold. Or, you might want to bring them back to the house.” Sans suggested. Alice nodded.

“Hey, Mister Grillby, is it okay if I bring these home?” She asked. He nodded. “Thank you.” She smiled as she picked up the plate.

“Alright, let’s go.” Sans grabbed onto her hand and took a shortcut.

“Okay, it looks like everyone else is asleep.” Sans said, seeing the light off. “Are you okay with sleeping down here again?”

“Yeah.” Alice nodded. “Oh, here’s your jacket back, by the way.” She added reluctantly, taking it off and handing to him.

“Oh, thanks kiddo.” Sans took the jacket from her. “You can keep it if you want. You seem pretty comfortable with it on.”

“Oh, thank you.” Alice smiled, took it back, and put it on, hugging herself. “It’s so warm!”

“Well, I’ll leave you be. ‘night kiddo.” Sans went upstairs, leaving Alice downstairs. As he walked into the room, he saw that Toriel was sitting at her desk, a small light showing that she was grading papers.

“Hey, Tori.” Sans said.

“Oh, hi Sans.” Toriel put down her pen.

“Listen, something’s going on with Alice.” Sans admitted. “I have a bit of a suspicion surrounding her and her family.”

“Oh? What is it?” Toriel turned to Sans.

“I suspect that she is being abused by a family member.” Sans announced. Toriel looked at him in shock.

“What?”

“It’s how it all fits.” Sans told her what Alice had said to him. Toriel held her paw to her face in horror. “Alice coming to us in the middle of the night, looking like she was kidnapped, Paul being secretive about what had happened with him being injured, as if someone had stabbed him in the hand, Alice lying, and now, Alice telling me about that promise she made. The only problem is, I have no physical proof that matters, and no confession, because she keeps dancing around the subject.” Sans sighed, sitting down on the bed.

“Well, why don’t you just straight up ask her?” Toriel asked.

“I don’t want her to go through more trauma. When she was talking to me, she seemed legitimately scared. Like, if she told someone, she was going to die.” Sans explained.

“Well then, I guess we have to wait.” Toriel looked unnerved. “She has to tell us eventually, doesn’t she?”

“I guess she does.” Sans sighed. “Look, I don’t know what to do, this is a tricky situation. I can’t just bring her to Snowdin every day. Paul is going to get curious eventually. And then, he might report us for kidnapping if he finds out that Alice is here with us. But not if we can get a lawsuit up against him first.”

“I agree. But like you said, we cannot just put this on Alice, especially if she’s as scared as you say.” Toriel said.

“Why don’t we just talk to Alice today?” Sans suggested. “Try to put it delicately, so to speak?”

“Right now? Isn’t she asleep?”

“Doesn’t seem like it, the light downstairs is still on.” Sans pointed out.

“That’s fair.” Toriel admitted. “Alright, let’s go talk to her.”

The two walked down the stairs, to see that Alice was huddled up in a blanket, watching the news.

“Well, Chad, tonight, on the 10 o’clock news, it seems that we have a child that has run away..”

“Ah yes, in the case of Alice Scott.” Chad said. “Well, Shannon, according to her father, Paul Scott, she has been missing since yesterday. He says that she went missing the night of the 21st, around 10 o’clock PM.”

“Oh, what a shame, that that poor, young, child would want to run away from a perfectly happy family.” Shannon frowned. “Paul himself speculates that it was one of the monsters that came from the underground two years ago that may have convinced her to run, maybe in a hope that they would be able to become more powerful than humans?”  
“I don’t know, Shannon. Maybe so.” Chad laughed. “But in any case, her whereabouts are unknown. And so, just call in if you see her. Alice in question was wearing pink, long sleeved pajamas at the time that she ran away.” At that, Alice shut off the T.V and shoved her face into her hands.

“Alice?” Toriel asked softly. She didn’t respond.

“Look, kiddo, if there’s anything you want to tell us, anything at all…” Sans said softly, “feel free to tell us. We want to help you.” Alice looked up at the two of them, thinking.

“Listen, I don’t know what your father has told you about us monsters, or what you’ve heard, but we won’t hurt you. Ever. We have no more need for a human soul, the only reason we ever did was because we needed to break the barrier.” Toriel explained. “Clearly, we don’t need to anymore.”

“Kiddo, I...I’m worried about you.” Sans admitted, moving to Alice’s other side. “From everything I’ve heard and observed from both you and your father- You HP is lower than normal, his is higher. He is at LV 5. You’re both injured, you more horribly than him. You’re secretive about your relationship with him, yet you seem to be scared of him. He doesn’t seem to care about your well being, just whether or not you’re at home. You-”

“Get to the point.” Alice said icily. “What are you trying to say?”

**_Well, so much for trying to put it delicately..._ **

“Well, it seems like you’re being abused.” Alice flinched in surprise. “Am I right?” Sans demanded, as Alice put her hand to her mouth.

“No.” Alice replied.

“Huh?” Sans looked at her in shock.

“Please don’t bring this up again. Ever.” Alice said, standing up. “If you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to be.”

“Alice, wait!” Toriel called out as Alice left through the front door. “What did we do wrong?”

“Nothing.” Sans told her. “Alice needs some time to blow off. She probably went to the library or something.”

“I hope so.” Toriel frowned.

“I mean, she took my jacket. She wouldn’t do that to us.” Sans pointed out. “She wouldn’t put the blame on us for ‘taking her’.”

“Yeah.” Toriel sighed. “Well, there’s nothing else to do. She’ll come back eventually, she has to.”

“Yep.” Sans looked at the door that Alice had left through.

* * *

 A light shone through the dark windows of the local library. Despite the outside winds, the library was a lovely place to be, with a fire blazing in the lobby. Although the sign on the outside told that it was closed, a woman walked through, dressed nicely in a blazer and heels, her blonde hair swinging as she walked,holding a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a file tucked under the other arm. She walked confidently amid the dark bookshelves, until she reached the lobby, where a long ebony table lay.

“Here you go.” The lady put the coffee down in front of a ruffled young man, who took it.

“Thanks.” He said gruffly, downing it in one go as the woman sat down.

“Sir, we do have a lot to discuss.” The woman said.

“That we do.” He agreed, slamming the cup on the table.

“Sir, that is mahogany.” The lady scolded gently.

“Right. Sorry.” The man sighed. “In any case, what’s the first thing we have to talk about?”

“That young girl. Her file is right here, sir.” The woman pulled out the file, and handed it to the man, who grabbed it and palmed through it.

“This girl?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. The girl is a prodigy.” The woman explained.

“Yes, I can see that in her file. These achievements…”

“And yet, we have nothing on her life before she was a young age.” The woman said. “Although, her file and family tree suggest that she is British.”

“British?” The man pulled out a paper.

“Yes, we examined her father’s files. He is confirmed to be British.” The woman confirmed. “And yet, we have nothing else on him. He appears to resemble an imprisoned criminal that was found in Britain, who was sent to prison on charges of-”

“Yes, yes, it says that in the file as well.” The man said. “It was when she would have been 5, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. Her whereabouts during that time is unknown. In fact, under this name, she technically did not exist in the US until 2025, when she was 6 years old.” The woman revealed.

“Interesting. We need to find more information on her.” The man attempted to take another drink of coffee, but realized that it was empty.

“Would you like another cup?” The woman offered.

“Yes please.” The man handed her his cup, and as she left, he looked at the file.

“...I’m gonna have to keep an eye on you.” He whispered to the file, as if he was talking to the person the file was about. “I will help you, if it’s the last thing I do.”


	18. A Cruel Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is forced to make a disadvantageous, horrible promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, you guys are really going to hate certain characters because of this chapter.
> 
> uwu This is where shit really its the fan.
> 
> Well, enjoy! And don't be too mad at a certain skelly, he's trying his best.

Chapter 18

 

“You know what would help a lot with proof?” Sans realized. It was morning time now, and Toriel was making breakfast and Sans was waiting for the coffee to brew.

“What?” Toriel asked.

“Mettaton. He’s her dance teacher. If anyone were to see any proof of her being abused, it would be him. After all, both genders have uniforms that show the kids’ arms and legs.”

‘That’s a good idea.” Toriel praised him.

“I’ll go in after school.” Sans said as the coffee beeped, pouring out the oozing black liquid. He poured it into a cup as Toriel put the breakfast on the plate.

“Kids! Breakfast is ready!” Toriel called up. Sans took the water bottle and filled it for Frisk to water Flowey. On time, the two kids came down, Chara sitting down at the table, and Frisk grabbing the bottle to spray Flowey.

“HEY!” Flowey woke up with a start at the cold water. Frisk giggled and sat down.

“Hey, where’s Alice?” Chara asked.

“Oh, she had to go somewhere.” Sans explained.

_ Aw. _ Frisk frowned as they signed the two letters.

“Well, you’ll probably see her at school.” Toriel pointed out. Frisk brightened up at that.

“Oh yeah, um, what exactly is going to happen with me?” Chara asked.

“About what?” Toriel asked.

“The whole video thing. With Jimmy?” Chara explained.

“Oh, that brat got his just desserts.” Sans waved them off. “You’re off the hook, kiddo.” Chara sighed in relief at that.

“Well, what are we going to do about Alice and her attacker?” They added.

“We’ll see.” Sans replied. “We’re going to try to get proof today of who her attacker was.” Chara nodded.

“Okay.” They continued eating.

* * *

 

Sans stayed home with Flowey as Toriel took the two to school. He just stared at the flower, realizing smugly that the soulless being that once caused him so much trouble was now just a simple houseplant. It made him want to laugh, in all honesty.

“What?” Flowey snapped.

“It’s just so funny.” Sans smiled. “You used to give me so much trouble with all the resets and everything. I wasted a lot of my magic on you. And now, you’re just a houseplant at my mercy.”

“So what?” Flowey replied. Sans used his magic to lift him up.

“It means that if I so wish,” Sans turned on the stove. “I can burn you.”

“AH! PLEASE DON’T!” Flowey begged.

“Nah, I can’t. I promised the kiddo.” Sans turned off the stove and put Flowey back on the table.

“Good riddance.” Flowey muttered.

“Jeez, for a flower, you sure are revenge seeking.” Sans noted.

“Well, I can’t-” Flowey paused. “Did you hear that?”

“Nice try, buddy.” Sans said.

“No, I’m serious!” Flowey retorted. Suddenly, Sans heard a BANG!

“Is that it?” He asked the flower, who nodded. “Alright, someone’s asking for a bad time.” Sans got up, cracked his knuckles to Flowey’s horror, and walked to the back door. He used his magic to pause whatever was behind it, and then opened the door.

“Oh. It’s you.” He said angrily to the man behind it. Paul.

“Look, I know you have my kid.” He snapped. “Just give her back and I’ll stop.”

“Nice try, but your act about being a nice parent is wasted.” Sans shrugged.

“What are you talking about?” Paul demanded.

“You see, I’m a very observant person. As well as good at judging.” Sans laid against the doorway. “Not to mention, it’s very easy to tell what kind of person one is. You see, you’re a very determined kind of person.”  **_After all, like most monsters, I don’t need a fancy machine to tell me what color soul you have. And you’re orange. Determined, but not as much as Alice, it seems._ **

“And well, sometimes determination can come to a fault for some people. You, for example, are making a horrible mistake coming here.” Sans explained. “You are not welcome here. Not here, not near my family.”

“So what? I can go where I please. You’re just a monster. You can’t tell me what to do.” Paul retorted.

“Xenophobia, much?” Sans muttered. “Well, buddy friend pal, I’m the one in control here.” Suddenly, his eyes went dark. “ _ So unless you want me to seriously give you a bad time, you’d better listen to me, and listen good _ .” Paul nodded, seemingly bored.

“I do not have your daughter with me. Like I said, she was with us for a short amount of time, but she left in the morning. We merely gave her shelter. Anyways. even if your daughter was missing, this is not the way to go about it! To just try to break in when you think no one’s home?” Sans glared at Paul, who rolled his eyes. “Huh. Seems like you think you’re above the law, don’t you?”

“I just wanted to try to get my kid back, okay?” Paul muttered. “I know you had her here yesterday.” Sans frowned. How did he know that?

**_Well, I’m not about to let him know that he’s right._ **

“Last I saw her, she was hurt. Don’t you care about that?” Sans asked. “You didn’t seem to care when I talked to you about it yesterday.”

“Not particularly. Unless she’s dying, that is.” Paul said. Sans looked at him in surprise.

“So, if it were to seem like someone, say, tied her up, muffled her so that she couldn’t say anything, and then beat her up, you wouldn’t care?” Sans asked, unable to hide the disgust on his face.

“Well, depends. Does she die?” Paul asked. “Where is she. She has your jacket, I know you had at at the meeting yesterday, so you must have given it to her yesterday.”

“You’re a disgusting man, you know that, right?” Sans muttered. “So, this is how it’s going to go, then. Alright, you asked for it.” Sans shrugged. “Enough dancing around the subject.”

“What subject?” Paul asked, and then stopped as he saw the blaster. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and took a picture of it.

“Look, I know what you’re doing to her. You’re abusing her, aren’t you?” Sans demanded coldly. “Why would you hurt such a sweet girl? What happened to you to ever make you hurt your own daughter?”

“Now, what makes you think that?” Paul asked innocently. “I prefer to think of it as, I don’t know, punishment for breaking multiple rules?” Sans dropped him in shock, and then picked him up as soon as he started to run.

“You’re not getting away  _ that _ easily.” Sans said angrily. “In what kind of world do you beat a child for breaking a couple rules? And not just any child, an 11 year old girl who is smaller than any other child except for Chara, and is also  _ your child _ ? Not to mention that she couldn’t even fight back?” Sans took his phone out of his pocket.

“You know, calling the police is useless.” Paul smiled.

“How is it useless?” Sans asked.

“They’ll never believe a skeleton who says that I was abusing a child.”

“Why, is it because they can  _ see right through me _ ?” Sans smiled.

“Because you have no proof. As far as they know, you were holding me for no reason. And besides, Alice is still missing. So until they find her, we’re at a stalemate.” Paul laughed evilly. “You can’t even use the fact that I just told you! Because all I have to say is that you threatened me with a weapon and held me against my will, then I have to show them that picture I just took, and I get off scott free and you go to jail.”

Sans stiffened as his eyes went dark.  **_Dammit, he’s right…_ **

“Now, I think it’d be in your best interest to agree to my plan. You have no way of being able to call to police on me. Not you, not your wife, not your kids. It’ll just reflect back on you.” Paul said. “So here’s this; You let me leave, and DON’T call the police. I don’t show them the proof, and therefore, you don’t go to prison. Got it?”

Sans gulped. He hated being stuck with this choice. It was either be arrested for what he stood for, or let a confessed abuser be free. But Paul was right, he had no proof, and without proof, there was no good ending to this....He hated this. He told himself that everything would change once he got proof.

“Well? What do you say?” Paul asked. Sans breathed slowly in, and slowly out. He cursed himself for the decision.

“Sticking to blackmail now, are we? Although, I didn’t know what I expected from someone like you.” Sans spat. 

“What. Do. You. Say?” Paul stated icily.

“I agree.” Sans said reluctantly. And yet, he didn’t let Paul go.

“Well? Aren’t you going to to let me go?” Paul asked.

“You said that I had to let you leave. You didn’t tell me to make it easy.” Sans snapped.

“Well, make it easy then!” Paul retorted.

“On one condition.” Sans returned. “When you leave, you don’t come back, and you leave me and my family alone.”

“I agree! Just let me go.” Paul snapped. Sans snapped his fingers and let Paul loose. Paul ran off into the area behind the house, and Sans watched until he disappeared from view. Sans then shut the door, went back to the table, and laid his skull onto his hands. Flowey looked at him in confusion.

“Flowey, what did I just do?” He asked. Flowey let his petals lay back in shock at Sans’ next words. “I just let an abuser go free. What have I done!?”

* * *

 

Sans sighed and teleported to outside the office several hours later.

“Hello there, Mr. Dreemurr!” The lady at the office smiled.

“Hello.” Sans smiled back, but it was a weak smile. “I need to talk to the dance teacher. It’s important.”

“Alright, just sign in here, and then I’ll get you a pass to go to his class.” She put a paper in front of him, and then stood up to grab the pass. He signed it, and examined the other people who had signed in. It looked like Helen had signed in at one point, as well as several others whose names he didn’t recognize.

“Alright! Here you go.” The lady came back with the pass. 

“Ah, thank you. Have a nice day!” Sans smiled as he went through the door to get to the actual school part. He took a breath to calm himself.

**_Relax._ ** He told himself.  **_This’ll help to fix the mistake you made. It’ll give you more proof._ **

* * *

 

The man sat at his desk, filing through the file the woman had given him. The more he read about this girl, the more he wanted to know. What happened to her mother? What was her home life like? He knew her situation from way back then. Having such a terrible father must be...well, for lack of a better word, terrible. Although, just because her father was bad, didn’t mean he was bad to her,  right?

Suddenly, his coworker popped in.

“Ah, there you are. Any news?” The man asked.

“Yes. We have here, from that chip that we put on her dad from when we interviewed him, that he had a confrontation with someone. We need to ask them in order to finally nail him.” The woman confirmed.

“Wow, already?” He whistled.

“Yep. This person is one of the monsters that recently populated the area.” She said.

“Well then, let’s go catch ourselves a criminal.” He took the report with him.

“You’re seriously taking that report?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Yeah. I want to show that monster, and ask that girl what else she knows.” He shrugged.

“Seriously? Most of the info she doesn’t even know! She was five when we started gathering info!” She smacked her head in frustration. “You know what, whatever. Let’s just go.”

“I told you I would try to help you. See? I kept my promise. I doubt you remember…” He muttered that last part to himself. “You were just a baby, after all, back in Britain…”


	19. Confrontations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Sans each have their own form of confrontations.

Chapter 19

 

“Look, Mettaton, I need to ask you about Alice.” Sans explained.

“Ah. Alice.” Mettaton sighed. “What about her?”

“Well, we’re a bit worried about her.” Sans explained what had happened, up until the encounter with Paul.

“Ah. Well, I can help you with that. I was wondering about it myself, but she always left right after school, so I never got a chance to talk about it with her.” Mettaton explained. “It’s just something that I noticed about her. I mean, as a dance teacher, you have to look at your students and make sure they’re doing everything right. I noticed that she had bruises that were covered up with makeup.”

“How could you tell they were bruises?” Sans frowned.

“Alphys gave me ridiculously good vision.” He explained. “Besides, Alice doesn’t seem to have a color corrector or anything. It was pretty easy to tell that she had bruises.”

“Alright. Did she always have bruises?” Sans asked.

“Pretty much all the time.” Mettaton frowned. “I just...I never approached her. I didn’t want to accuse her dad of anything if he was innocent. That kind of stuff can ruin a person’s life.” 

“That’s true.” Sans admitted. “Anything else?”

“No, except that she hasn’t been in school since she went missing.” Mettaton answered.

“Alright. Thanks, Mettaton.” Sans smiled.

“Oh, it’s no problem, darling. I want to make sure all of my little dancers are in good situations.” Mettaton smiled and got back to his work.

As Sans left, he felt nothing but pure, unfiltered rage at Paul. 

“I swear, I will fight with every last bit of strength I have, to get Alice out of that situation.” He angrily whispered to himself. “I will get her out of there if it kills me.”

* * *

 

“Hey Chara, look!” Chara perked up at Kaya’s voice.

“What is it?” Chara asked their friend, who was pointing at a poster.

_ SUESSICAL THE MUSICAL! _

_ AUDITIONS ON THURSDAY THE 30TH AT 3:30 IN THE DRAMA ROOM _

“Are you going to audition?” Kaya asked. Her and Makayla both looked at Chara expectantly.

“I’m not sure.” Chara admitted. “I mean, I know how to sing, but I’m not the  _ best _ singer, you know what I’m saying?”

“Oh, that’s stupid! You’re an amazing singer! We’ve heard you sing before.” Kaya retorted. “My dad always says, if you can do it, do it!”

“Your dad has terrible quotes.” Makayla responded. Kaya shoved her.

“Well, I guess I can audition. I know Frisk has been wanting to audition for a while.” Chara said. 

“Well, you have plenty of time. Today’s Thursday, but it means next week. Right?” Kaya looked at it again. “Yeah, it means next week.” She confirmed.

“Alright. What do I need to audition?” Chara asked.

“Well, you need to look nice, but you have to wear fitted clothing that you can move in, so just your dance uniform, I guess?” Makayla said. “You also need a song to sing for auditions, and they’ll give you a short monologue to read.”

“Okay.” Chara sighed. “I got this. I have to go home now, guys. I’ll see you later!”

“Bye Chara!” Kaya and Makayla waved.

“Ha!” Chara turned, to be face to face with Ashley and Anna.

“Do you really think you can beat us?” Anna taunted. “We’ve been the two leads for the past five years!”

“Yeah! I bet you’ll get chorus or something stupid like that.” Ashley added.

“Ugh, I don’t have time for you two. I have to beat Jeremy’s ass.” Chara rolled their eyes. “Why don’t you stick your big nose out of my business so that I can leave?” And before the two could say anything else, Chara pushed past them and walked to behind the lockers, just like how they had agreed.

“Ha! Alone, I assume?” Jimmy crossed his arms and smirked.

“Of course. I don’t need help.” Chara mimicked his behavior. He seemed too cocky. “I assume you didn’t do the same?”

“What do you mean?” Jimmy asked innocently as Anna and Ashley stepped out behind him. “I can’t fight a girl. So these two are going to do it for me.” He nodded towards them.

“Alright. Their deaths.” Chara shrugged as their left eye turned red as they changed Anna’s soul to blue, and threw an attack at Ashley. They threw Anna in the air, suspending her there with a terrified look on her face as Chara put them on the roof. Ashley missed Chara’s attack, but not by much, and Chara’s right eye glowed as they put Ashley on the roof as well. 

“Well, so much for you two staying out of my business.” Chara shrugged as the two stared at them in fear, then ran off along the roof. “Now for this bastard.” Jimmy looked at Chara as if they had just killed all of his family and friends.

“Look, I can take being misgendered.” Chara turned his soul green so that he couldn’t escape. “I can take being terribly hurt. I’ve taken it in the past. But the one thing I will not take, is any of that happening to Frisk.” Chara threw a spear at him, Undyne style, so that he could dodge the arrows firing at him. “You see, I’m the demon that comes when you call it’s name. Chara...that’s me. With every kill my vessel made, it made me stronger. With each amount of XP, every little bit of LOVE, I became just a bit stronger. Until, no one was left.” Chara smiled evilly, their eyes black as Jimmy stared at them, still blocking the arrows, which were now coming with more ferocity. “That vessel...it was Frisk. MY Frisk. And to repay them for every little bit of LOVE that made me possible to exist, I must protect them as if they were my own body and blood. Everytime they are hurt, I am hurt. If I fail in my mission, I die. And so.” Chara readied a demented, torn up, red blaster. “I must eliminate all creatures that threaten my vessel.”

“W-wait! I’ll leave Frisk alone!” Jimmy broke down into tears. “Please, just...don’t kill me!”

That shocked Chara out of their anger. All of a sudden, they stopped. The blaster went away, Jimmy’s soul turned back to it’s normal color, and Chara just stood there, shocked.

They had almost  _ killed _ someone. They put their hand to their face in horror.

What was this feeling..?

**_Why do I feel...bad?_ **

“Just...don’t bully anyone anymore. Not me, not Frisk, not your brother, not anyone.” Chara said, suddenly looking away in shame. Why were they so reluctant to kill? This boy, Jimmy, he was a monster!

So why couldn’t they just kill him?

“I won’t.” Jimmy promised. “Shake on it?” He held out his hand. Chara looked a pause, not sure if their magic would stay, and then slowly, carefully, shook his hand.

“Truce?” Chara asked shakily.

“Truce.” Jimmy said. “Let’s pretend this didn’t happen.”

“I agree.” Chara said, and then walked off into the bushes to meet Frisk back at the Dance Room.

Sans met the two of them there.

“Hey kiddo. What’s gotten you down?” He asked.

“Oh, nothing.” Chara replied, sad. Frisk just looked at them.

“Remember to pack, you guys are going to Asgore’s tomorrow.” Sans reminded them. Frisk gasped.

_ Grandpa Asgore!  _ They clapped happily.

“Yeah, Asgore.” Chara added, forcing a smile. They hadn’t seen him since, well, they had killed him in the last timeline. Frisk looked at them in suspicion.

“Well, let’s get home, kids.” Sans smiled. A little too bright, as far as Chara could tell.

**_Is Sans hiding something too..?_ **

* * *

 

After teleporting home, Chara and Frisk went upstairs. As soon as Chara went in to start packing, Frisk shut the door behind the two of them and locked it.

_ You’re going nowhere. _ Frisk signed.

“Alright. Can you at least grab me a suitcase?” Chara asked.

_ We can share one. They’re in the closet. _ Frisk signed.  _ But first, what happened? Before Dunkle Sans came out, I felt that you were angry, and then sad. I also heard fight sounds from where you came from. _

“And?” Chara asked.

_ Were you fighting with someone? _ Frisk asked.

“M-maybe.” Chara frowned. They dropped the suitcase they pulled out of the closet, and crossed their arms.

_ Was it Jimmy? _ Frisk asked.

“...Yeah.” Chara sighed.

_ You’ve gotta control that temper of yours, Chara. _ Frisk moved over to them, to grab the suitcase.  _ Grandpa Asgore won’t have it. _ Chara sighed in response.

“I already feel bad.” Chara admitted. “Why is that? I was able to kill an entire species before. Why can’t I kill one evil human?” Frisk thought for a minute, then shrugged when the words couldn’t come to them.

“Well, we’d better pack.” Chara sighed. “We do leave tomorrow, after all.”

* * *

 

After packing their few belongings and helping Frisk to pack their stuff, Chara went downstairs to ask Sans what was going on. He was sitting at the table, his eyes closed in thought.

“Sans?” Chara asked. No reply. Chara quickly realized that he was asleep.

**_Great._ ** Chara sat down next to him, and put their head in their hand. Staring at him, they tried to figure out how wake him up.

**_I got it!_ ** Chara stood up, moved towards Sans, and sat on his back. The sudden weight seemed to startle him.

“Whoa there!” Sans said, jumping up as Chara fell off. “Oh, sorry Chara. Did you need something?”

“Oh, nothing. It just seemed like you were thinking about something when you picked up me and Frisk.”

“Oh.” Sans frowned. “Well, um, it’s nothing for you to really worry about. Doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“You can tell me!” Chara said. “I’m pretty good at keeping secrets.”

“...” Sans thought for a minute.

“Please?” Chara asked. “I won’t tell, I promise.”

“I...I’m not sure if I can tell you.” Sans said. “I will say that it involves Alice and her family.”

“What?” Chara blinked in shock, but before they could respond, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.” Sans said, getting up to open the door.

* * *

 

“Heya.” Sans said as he opened the door to find two humans. He recognized them as the reporters he had seen on the TV the night that they had reported Alice missing.

“You’re Sans Dreemurr, right?” Shannon asked.

“Yep, that’s me.” Sans pointed to himself. “What do you need?”

“We need to ask you about something.” Chad pulled out a folder. “Do you know anything about a girl named Alice Scott?”

“Y-yeah. She went missing not to long ago, didn’t she?” Sans said nervously.

**_Did Paul tell them?_ **

“Come with us.” Chad replied, moving his arm invitingly to the front porch, to sit on the bench.

**_If they have stuff to talk to me about, we should probably go somewhere no one can hear us._ **

“Actually, do you think you could come inside? I’ll ask the kids to go upstairs.” Sans offered.

“That’ll work as well.” Shannon nodded. The two followed Sans into the kitchen, where Chara was still waiting.

“Hey kiddo, can you do me a favor? Take Flowey upstairs and keep an eye on Frisk for me.” Sans asked. Chara blinked in surprise.

“S-sure.” Chara got up, grabbed the flower, which tried to bite them, and walked out. Sans waited until he saw them walk upstairs.

“Is that your daughter?” Chad asked.

“Oh, they don’t really feel comfortable being referred to as male or female. I know, it takes some getting used to. But hey, monsters don’t really have a gender binary, so.” Sans shrugged.

“Alright then.” Shannon pulled out a piece of paper. “Okay first; What is your full name?”   
“My full name is Comic Sans Dreemurr, but I usually go by Sans.”

“Are you married?” Shannon asked.

“Yep.”

“Who are you married to?”   
“Toriel Dreemurr.”

“Any kids?”   
“Two. They’re both adopted, though.”

“Okay. So, we have a couple things to ask. Firstly, do you know Alice Scott?”

“Yes. She goes to school with my kids, and she’s in dance with Chara.” Sans said.

“Okay, that answers the second question. Next, what do you know about her father?”


	20. Lost yet Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans goes through an interview about Alice, and the two Dreemurr children visit Asgore.

Chapter 20

_**That he's a disgusting, abusive, manipulative bastard that deserves to rot for what he's done.**_  "Um, not much. I mean, we're on the PTA together, but we don't really talk."

"Anything else?" Shannon raised an eyebrow.

"Nope." Sans said simply. Shannon looked at Chad.

"Alright. Do you know Alice's relationship with her father?"

"Not really. I think they're a bit...what's the word...disconnected?" Sans frowned, trying to think of a way to tip them off so that they would be able to know the truth without Paul finding out.

"Disconnected? Can you elaborate?" Shannon asked as Chad went through the folder.

"Well...not really." Sans said, moving his hand to his mouth. "Like I said, I don't know very much about him."

"Mr. Dreemurr, we need as much information as we can get." Shannon sighed and got out a badge. "Look, we're both part of Child Protective Services. We have suspicions that her father is abusing her."

"Really now?" Sans asked.  _ **In that case, I really can't tell you...Damn you, Paul!**_

"We put a special tracker on Paul to see what he was doing. It seems that he came to the back of your house, and we can also tell that you had a conversation. Mind telling us what that was about?"

"Can't." Sans shrugged angrily.

"You...can't?" Shannon asked.

"Paul threatened me. He told me that if I told anyone what we talked about, he would make sure I went to jail." Sans explained, clenching his fists to keep from throwing something.

"What?" Chad looked up, staring at Sans.

"You see, um…" Sans frowned, trying to find a way to put it. "He tried to break into the house, and I used magic to hold him still so that he wouldn't be able to run, and when he started threatening me, I used a blaster to get him to quiet down. He took a picture, and now he's using it as leverage to keep me quiet." Sans explained.

"Okay." Shannon looked absolutely shell shocked, an oddity compared to her serene, composed self. "So now, whatever you tell us, we will keep you anonymous."

"Why didn't you take the phone?" Chad asked.

"Didn't think of it." Sans shrugged. "Honestly, when you're confronting a possible child abuser who attempted to break into your house, you don't really think straight."

"That's true." Chad commented. "So, continue with what you were going to say before I asked about the phone."

"Okay." Sans said. "The thing is, what we talked about, can't really be used without proof."

"...What do you mean?" Chad frowned.

"We were talking about Alice. The night she ran away, she came to the house looking like she had been kidnapped. She had rope around her wrists, and the rope looked like it had been forcibly cut, as well as a muffle that had fallen to her neck. She stayed with us for a day, and then she ran off when we started asking her about her father. I started to suspect she was being abused, everything matched up. The next morning, Paul tried to break in. Somehow, he knew that Alice had been here. We talked for a while about Alice, and he had said that he didn't care what happened to her as long as she wasn't dead. Then I pulled the blaster on him-"

"Blaster?" Chad asked. Sans sighed and summoned a Gaster Blaster.

"This is a Gaster Blaster. They were created by...someone. We don't know anything about them, they just appeared into existence at some point." Sans explained as he motioned for the blasters to go away. "Anyways, so then I confronted him about the abuse."

"What did he say?" Shannon asked, writing furiously.

"He told me that he prefers to think of it as punishment for breaking a rule." Chad stared at the folder as Shannon kept writing.

"Alright." Shannon said.

"The thing is though, the leverage he held was that I had no proof that he actually said that. He did, I can confirm it. But we can't use it as evidence against him because I didn't record it or anything. Instead, he told me that if I told anyone, he would call the police on me and tell them that I held him against his will and pulled a weapon on him. He has a photo of it, so therefore, if I tell, I go to jail." Sans sighed. "So therefore, we need to find Alice. If we can get Alice to confess to it, then we can bag him."

"It's a bit more than that." Chad said. "You see, it would be just that, if Alice still had proof that she was abused, like bruises or an injury."

Sans blinked.  _ **Dammit! She healed using a SAVE POINT. That heals everything except scars!**_

"But it's been several days. The bruises are typically almost gone by now. An if she's scared enough of him, she won't tell." Chad looked down at the folder.

"We...didn't think of that." Sans admitted. "We have certain places that humans can use in the Underground, and I brought her there to cheer her up. Those heal everything except for scars."

"Well, that's great. So we have no proof." Shannon said unhappily.

'Hey, Mr. Dreemurr? Can you look at this?" Chad handed him the folder. Sans looked through said folder.

"This is about Alice, right?" Sans asked.

"Yes. You see, I used to know her. Back when I was still a teenager and she was really young, probably about five or so."

"You knew her?"

"Yes. She would walk on the streets all the time, looking for food and shelter. I met her doing community service. We were friendly for a year, and then she just disappeared. Gone." Chad said, memories flashing in his eyes. "I met her again when I moved to America about three years ago. It was on a Sunday, and I was working as a news reporter. I was doing a report at a fair, and I went to interview a little girl with a broken arm. It was her." Sans moved to hear more.

"I didn't say anything because I was on the air, but I went ahead and interviewed her, asking about her arm and what she liked best. She said that she broke her arm playing around the house, because she fell down the stairs, and that she liked the Ferris Wheel. Despite talking about something happy, I could tell that there was something off. She acted happy, but she was quieter. Less hyper than when I first met her. I haven't talked with her since, but I've kept an eye on her."

"That's quite a story there." Sans said.

"Yep." Chad said.

"And this info on her is also interesting. Unfortunately, I still need to find Alice. I promise, I'll help you guys out." Sans handed back the folder.

"In that case, we'll take our leave." Shannon got up. "Thank you again for cooperating."

"No prob, bob." Sans smiled. "I'll let you guys know if I find anything out."

* * *

It was Friday evening. Chara took a breath as Sans pulled up to the small cottage. For someone who once had an entire kingdom, you'd hardly think that Asgore would be living there. It was a small, elegant cottage, freshly painted white, with many flowers blooming alongside it. Buttercups and roses and tulips and all sorts of flowers grew in the garden. Lillies decorated the hedges that had been put down in place of fencing, giving it that homely look that one would expect of a grandparent.

_I always like coming here._  Frisk signed, holding Flowey in their lap.  _Don't tell mom, but Grandpa Asgore always lets me bake cookies and order pizza for dinner._  Chara nodded.  _ **Dad always was good at baking cookies. Of course, Mom was better, but still.**_

"Alright kids, we're here." Sans smiled. Frisk opened the door to the car, put Flowey down in the seat, and then climbed out, grabbing Flowey and leaving the door open for Chara. They sighed and got up to help Frisk with the luggage.

"Alright guys, let's get your luggage and go inside." Sans said, opening the trunk. Chara grabbed their and Frisk's bag and pulled it up to the front door. Frisk knocked on it, and it opened shortly after.

"Howdy there, Frisk." Asgore smiled down at Frisk. Suddenly, he paused, and slowly turned towards Chara. "C-chara? Is that you?"

"Yes, it is." Chara asked, confused at his tone. Suddenly, he grasped them up in a tight hug.

"Oh, Chara! I thought you were dead!" He gasped.

"I-I was. I came back to life." Chara explained. "It's a long story."

"Oh, you can tell me over a nice cup of tea." Asgore smiled proudly at Chara, who smiled back nervously.

"Remember, Asgore. They need to eat healthy." Toriel reminded him gently.

"Understood. I've got everything under control." Asgore smiled.

"Sounds good." Toriel nodded. "Well, we'll leave you here."

"Bye Mom and Sans." Chara waved.

_Bye._  Frisk signed, hugging Toriel. She chuckled as her and Sans walked back to the car and left.

"Well," Asgore said as they pulled out. "Do you want to order a pizza?" This was met with equal agreement from both Chara and Frisk.

"That is quite a story." Asgore said as Chara finished the explanation of timelines and how Chara had been a possession of Frisk.

"I'm not a genocidal creature anymore." Chara said. "I don't want that to change anyone's opinion of me. That's not who I am anymore."  
"I can see that. You're simply a human who was wronged, and seeked revenge. But you made a mistake, and wrought revenge on the wrong creatures."

"Exactly." Chara took a bite of their pineapple pizza.

_How can you eat that?_  Frisk asked, disgusted as they took a bite of their pepperoni pizza.

"It's good!" Chara retorted, continuing to take a bite. "Well, anyways, where can we put our luggage?"  
"Oh! I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me." Asgore smiled at them gently. "You can sleep upstairs, in the guest room. There's, erm, someone else there as well. You might know her."

"We might?" Chara blinked in surprise.

"She's still asleep, as far as I know. She came to me the other night, around 4 in the morning. It seemed like she'd been on the run from something. She came in, and passed out. I moved her upstairs, and she hasn't woken up yet."

"Oh, we might know her." Chara looked at Frisk in surprise.

_Why would she be here?_  Frisk signed in confusion, to which Chara shrugged. Asgore led the two of them upstairs, to where he opened a door with the light off. Seeing the long, blonde hair of the girl asleep confirmed Chara's thoughts.

"Yep, that's who I thought it was." Chara said. "It's Alice."

"I thought that your family would know her." Asgore explained as he shut the door. "She came to me wearing Sans' jacket, after all."  
"She did?" Chara asked.

"Yep." Asgore confirmed.

"She must have run from our house to here." Chara commented. "Well, no wonder she's still out. It's a 30 minute drive to here, I can't imagine how long it would take to run."

"Wow. I wouldn't be able to do that." Asgore commented quietly, looking at the door. "Well, do you guys want to bake cookies or something?"

"Yes please!" Chara smiled, as Frisk jumped up and ran downstairs. "Hey! This still isn't fair! You have long legs!"

Asgore chuckled. "Oh, Alice." he added quietly to the door. "What happened to put you in such a bad state?"


	21. Confessions of the Abused, part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> UwU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is my birthday! I'm 16 years old now!
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
> 
> ~Skater

Chapter 21

 

“Okay, next we have to put in the flour.” Chara read to Frisk, who was mixing the bowl of cookie dough. Chara poured in the flour, which puffed up into Frisk’s face. They blinked in surprise, and then started to chuckle.

“You look like a ghost!” Chara laughed. Frisk looked at them with a naughty expression on their face, and then they grabbed a fistful of flour and threw it in Chara’s face.

“Hey!” Chara laughed, and then the cookie making fun turned into a flour war. By the time Asgore came back from checking on Alice, the two were covered.

“Aww, you guys made a mess!” Asgore frowned. Chara looked down.

“Sorry, Dad.” Chara said, putting their hands behind their back.

“Well, only one thing to do.” Asgore grabbed the flour. “Make it a bigger mess!”

“Wait, wh- AHH!” Chara screamed in surprise as Asgore poured the bag over them. Frisk was full out laughing now, an adorable sound. The three played with the flour for a while longer, until they all looked like ghosts. Chara shook flour out of their hair, and it landed on Flowey, who had somehow managed to keep flour off of him up until then.

“Hey!” Flowey shook off the flour. “I’m not  _ that _ kind of flour!”

“Well, we might want to finish baking, and then you two should get cleaned up.” Asgore said.

_ Do you need help cleaning? _ Frisk asked.

“No, just go ahead and finish baking, I’ll clean it.” Asgore waved them off. 

“Well, we’re almost done, we just need to put it into the oven.” Chara said. The two kids put the batter into little balls and put them on a tray, which they then put in the oven. 

“Alright, now you two get cleaned up, there’s a shower in the room next to where you guys are sleeping.” Asgore said as he turned to the flour all over the kitchen, and moved Flowey out of the range of the destruction zone. Frisk and Chara walked upstairs, and Frisk ran to the bathroom and shut the door.

“Hey!” Chara knocked on the door and tried the knob, but it was locked. 

“Dammit.” They muttered as they went into their room. They closed the door and slid down behind it. 

**_I have to admit, that was fun._** They closed their eyes.

“Who...who goes there?” They heard someone say, and then they opened their eyes to someone flashing a knife at them.

“Whoa!” Chara jumped up.

“Oh, i-it’s you.” Alice said, blushing as she sheepishly put away the knife in one of the pockets of Sans’ jacket. “Why are you here?”   
“This is Dad’s house.” Chara retorted. “He’s babysitting Frisk and I. Why are you here?”

“Your dad?” Alice frowned. “I thought Sans was…”

“Oh, it’s a long story. Sans is my Dunkle.” Chara made a mental note to ask Frisk what that meant. Alice looked confused, but seemed to decide not to ask.

“Why are you here?” Chara repeated. Alice looked to the right, and then shrugged.

“I don’t know.” She lied. Chara narrowed their eyes.

“Alice, just stop right there.” Chara said. “‘I don’t know’?” They mimicked Alice’s voice, and then rolled their eyes. “Give me a break. You know. You just don’t want ME to know. Is that right?” Alice just stared at them. “Whatever. It’s not important. It’s only something that would alarm you enough to pull a knife on whatever person walked into the room.” Chara let out a huff, and then left the room before Alice could say anything. They slammed the door behind them and took a shortcut outside. 

**_I need to talk to someone. Or read something. I don’t know._ ** Chara sighed and walked to the library, flour falling off of them, bringing back memories of dusting monsters.

* * *

It was 4:45 by the time they got to the library, and so they teleported in so that they wouldn’t be seen by the librarian. They decided to try to find what was going on with Alice, and so they went into the section talking about dealing with issues like that. They looked through the books, reading a few. 

“Mental illness, Cancer, Death in the family...huh?” Chara frowned. “Dealing with Domestic Abuse?” They grabbed the book, and ran to an area behind the bookshelves to read it.

“Low self esteem, frequent injuries, dressing in clothing to hide bruises or scars, afraid of their abuser…” Chara dropped the book. “Why didn’t I wonder about that earlier?”

**_After all, I was like that once too…_ ** Chara shivered, recalling their days as Charlotte.  **_We need to talk to her as soon as possible. In fact, I should go back and talk to her._ ** Chara ran to the self checkout and checked out the book. They then walked outside and teleported back to Asgore’s house, where they had left. No one was around, but Chara could tell from the sounds in the room that Alice was in there. Taking a breath, they went into the room, shut the door, and turned on the light. Alice was sitting on the bed, hugging Sans’ jacket close to her, and she looked up as Chara came in.

“Alice, we need to talk.” Chara said simply as they locked the door.

“About what?” Alice asked innocently.

“This.” Chara threw the book on the bed. Alice picked it up in confusion, and then frowned when she looked at the title.

“I’m not abused.” Alice stated simply, throwing the book back at Chara.

“I never said you were.” Chara sat down in front of her. “I just wanted to tell you my story. I told you I would tell you later, right?”

“About how you weren’t human, right?” Alice said. “What does this have to do with anything?”

“Yep. This is the story of when I was a human.” Chara took a breath. “A very long time ago, I was born as Charlotte Breiner.”

“Charlotte Breiner? You’re German?” Alice asked.

“Yep.” Chara said surprised that Alice could pick that out from their last name. “At least, my grandparents were German. I was born in America. That’s not important, though.” Chara changed the subject. “My mom died when she gave birth to me, and my dad remarried after a few years. My stepmom was named Meredith Hershal.”

“Meredith Hershal? My dad used to know someone named Meredith, back when we first moved here.” Alice commented. “I don’t know her last name, though.”  Chara clenched their teeth.

**_I hope they’re not the same person..._ **

“Not long after they married, they had a kid, but the kid died in childbirth. I’m...I’m not sure what exactly had happened back then. Everyone had just told me that my dad had done something bad to Meredith, that he would be going away for a long time for. I can understand. I was only about 3 or 4. ” Chara took a breath. “But now that I looked through those books about dealing with stuff, and seeing what matched up, I...I think Meredith accused him of…” Chara couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Of what?” Alice frowned. Chara looked at Alice blankly.

**_I guess whatever abuse she’s getting, it’s not of_ ** **that** **_nature._ **

“Um, I’ll tell you later. Anyways, I may not remember him much, but I know my dad could never do anything to hurt her. He loved her, plus he wouldn’t hurt a fly. But he was sent to jail for it for life. Even when he would get out, that would still be on his records. She ruined him.” Anger filled Chara’s voice, and they had to clench their fists. “Before that, Meredith was slowly getting to be mean to me. She would take me out for ice cream, and then scold me harshly for getting multiple flavors of ice cream. It got worse and worse over time, to where when Dad was gone, she would slap me and scream at me. She told me I was a mistake, and that I never should have been born.” Chara rubbed their arms. “And yet, she would often times go out of her way to do something nice for me. She would take me to an amusement park, or she would let me do something that she normally wouldn’t. I thought that she had changed every time. Like a child.” Chara muttered the last part to themselves. “She adopted a boy when I was four. His name was Jonathan, and he was five at the time. He was mute, so we both took classes on how to speak in sign. Meredith joined us.” Chara recalled way back when. “After my dad went to jail, Meredith stopped showing mercy. She would frequently demean us, embarrass us, and beat us. She ragged on me for not being girly enough, even though that was because I was never comfortable being referred to as a girl. She constantly called me childish and treated me as if I was  and unruly 16 or 17  year old  rather than about 10 or so years younger than that. She threatened me constantly, and made a list of rules I had to follow at all times. I was to never go out or read books. Meredith said that reading wasn’t ladylike. I could only learn to cook, as she told me a woman’s only purpose was to serve men.”

“That’s horrible!” Alice gasped.

“It was.” Chara looked away. “I kept a diary. It was the only thing that was bookish that I was allowed to own. I wrote in it constantly, and hid it from her. It detailed every bit of freedom I had, all the rules I broke.” Chara ran their fingers through their hair. “One of the things I wrote about the most was my hair. You see, my hair back then was very long and extremely curly. I loved it. It was the only thing I had control over in my miserable life.” Chara smiled sadly.

“What happened to it? It’s so short now.” Alice asked.

“That’s the next thing. You see, something that she always did was excuse her abuse. She told me that everything she did, she did to make me successful in life. If she beat me until I couldn’t walk the next day, it was because I had broken a rule. She knocked me out for several days once because she hit me with a wine bottle. That one was for sneaking out.” Alice looked away uncomfortably. 

**_Is it working? Will she confess?_ **

“One day, I was in my room. I had a ribbon in my hair, which was curly, and I wore a beautiful dress, that was long sleeved and covered the bruises on my arms. I was putting makeup on a bruise over my eye, and I remember hoping that if I looked cute, maybe that monster wouldn’t hit me as hard. Then, Meredith burst into my room, Jonathan in tow. He had been forced to tell her about my diary. She…” Chara took a breath. Alice looked at Chara in worry. “She decided that an ample punishment would be to cut off my hair. All of it. It never grew back right.” Chara admitted. “She pinned me down on the ground, and took a knife to my hair, cutting it all ugly and unevenly. She then decided to make me suffer. For the next hour, she beat me with the end of the knife, and cut my skin with the blade. On my arms, my legs, my face, everywhere.” Chara took another breath while Alice put her hand to her mouth in horror. “After an hour, I think Jonathan realized she was going to kill me if I lost any more blood. He tried to stop her by pulling her arm, but instead, she stabbed him in the stomach. I managed to escape out the window, and just run as far as I could while still bleeding. Eventually, I made my way to Mount Ebbot, and I jumped down into the chasm.” Alice stared at Chara.

“You were...you wanted to die?” Alice asked.

“Yes. I didn’t have anyone else in my life who cared about me.” Chara said. “That is, until I fell underground. I met many people. Asriel, and his parents, Asgore and Toriel. I was scared of them at first. After all, the only people I knew very well  as family members had all hurt me. I was especially afraid of Toriel.” Chara admitted. “But, I found books down there. I was free to do as I pleased. I found a new gender identity that I was comfortable with. I took the name, Chara. I was happy for the first time. But slowly, I felt myself start to hate humanity. The only humans I had known that were still alive were evil. I learned monster history, and by the age of 11, I found a plan to kill all of humanity. I just needed to die. If Azzy took my soul, he would become a powerful creature, more powerful than anything else. That was what I needed for my plan to work.” Chara recalled the memories. 

“You still wanted to die?” Alice asked quietly.

“Yes. I did. But this time, it was for a good cause. It wasn’t because I was on the verge of death anyways and no one would miss me.” Chara explained. “This time, it hurt more to realize that I needed to die. Because if I died, I would be hurting my new family.”

“Why did you need to die?” Alice asked.

“You remember what Alphys said, right? About colors of souls and Determination levels? Well, I have a very powerful soul. Red, in fact. If a human soul is absorbed with a monster, than that monster becomes all powerful. In any case, back to the plan. I needed a way to die that wasn’t conspicuous. But one day, Azzy and I made a pie for Dad. But instead of putting cups of butter, we accidentally put buttercups. We poisoned him on accident. The only thing I could do was laugh. It was better than breaking down because I hurt one of my new family members. But, it gave me an idea. I could poison myself with buttercups.”

“Isn’t that painful?” Alice asked.

“Oh, yes it was.” Chara decided not to linger on the subject. “I died, and Azzy took my soul. He left the barrier, and laid my body in the flowers, like how I had asked for as my final wish. The humans attacked him, thinking that he had killed me. I tried to get him to fight back, I tried to take control of our body. But he didn’t want to fight. My plan, to get 6 human souls to break the barrier, the one that had taken me two years to come up with, all ruined because of him. We both died, and my soul went back into my dead, human body.”

“After that, I’m not sure what happened until Frisk went underground. At first, they made friends with everyone. Even those who didn’t want to be friends. They freed everyone. I was happy to see them all again. And then, they RESET. This time, they didn’t seem to care that they had been friends with everyone in a past timeline. They killed everyone. Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton, Sans, even Asgore and Flowey. I thought, was his my doing? Was I the one who was controlling them, giving them the ure for genocide, much like how I had once felt against the human race? After Frisk killed Flowey and faced me, I saw their eyes. They were open despite the fact that they needed glasses. And Frisk’s eyes are brown, although in certain lighting, they can appear reddish. Their eyes were bright red, almost as bright as mine. It was then that I understood. I didn’t force them to do this, just like how I thought. It was some sort of celestial being, controlling the two of our actions. All of Frisk’s stat increases, just affected me. After all, it was me who was keeping them alive. It was a miracle that I survived falling down, of course Frisk didn’t. And so then, I killed Frisk in order to force a true reset. But then, the world died. It was all just...gone. And so, I slowly realized that I needed to take what was left of Frisk’s SOUL in order to reset the world. But, I needed to make sure they wanted the world back. After all, if whatever being that was controlling us really wanted everyone dead, they wouldn’t come back. And yet, they did. And Frisk traded their SOUL for the world back. That was the timeline before this. And after they completed it and freed everyone again, I bided my time. I wanted to get revenge on humans still. After all, just because that plan failed, didn’t mean that I couldn’t find another way. And this time would be easier. After all, who would expect a child to kill everyone? And so, two years after the barrier was broken, I took over Frisk’s body. But, what I didn’t expect was for them to be living with Sans and Toriel. Sans used his magic to throw me around the room, and eventually, he split the soul in half, which created two new souls, one of which was mine, and the other Frisk’s. And so, now, I am not a human. I am a demon, one that comes when you call it’s name.”

“I don’t know about that.” Alice said quietly, still shocked at Chara’s backstory. “You’re the nicest demon I’ve ever known.”

“Look, I just wanted to say, whatever you’re going through, there’s always gonna be someone who knows what you’re going through. It sure seems to me like you’re an abuse victim, even if you won’t admit. But, holding it in won’t help you. Please, just let us help you.”

Alice took a breath.


	22. Confessions of the Abused part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> =)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've decided to start attempting a schedule for updates. This story will be updated on Sundays, or Mondays if I am unable to update on Sunday for whatever reason. Anyways, enjoy the chapter! this one was hard to write, I hate writing sad backstories T.T
> 
> ~Skater

Chapter 22

 

“It’s...it’s true.” Alice admitted. “My dad...he hits me.”

Chara nodded, moving to a more comfortable position.

“It started a long time ago, about 6 years ago.” Alice explained. “I was five at the time. We lived in Britain. We being me, my mum, and my dad. We were happy up until…” Alice paused. “Until I was about 4 or so. Then, we started having some sort of money issue. Mum and Dad started arguing more and more over it. I knew when they were going to argue because Mum always sent me out of the room. One day, I was about five, they had a particularly bad argument. I went to bed and shoved my pillow over my head, hoping they’d stop. All of sudden, e-everything went quiet.”

“What?” Chara asked.

“Yep. It all went silent. I was confused, but I decided that they had stopped arguing. I went to sleep. But the next day, I woke up, and n-no one was in the house.”

“No one?” 

“Nope. I was alone. I searched the entire house, and asked my neighbors what had happened. No one knew what had happened to my parents. I lived in the house for a bit, learning how to live on my own. It wasn’t that bad, but I didn’t like having to do everything myself. Pretty soon, food ran out and I had to borrow from the neighbors. They didn’t like me that much, but they wouldn’t refuse food to a little kid. But then the house got taken away due to the bill not being paid. After that, I lived on the streets for about a year.”

“On the  _ streets _ !?” Chara gasped in shock, and sat up. “As a  _ five year old _ !?”   
“Yep.” Alice nodded. “I had a bit of help from someone who was in his teens at the time. I think he’s somewhere in his twenties by now? In any case, he promised to keep me safe.” 

“That’s really sketchy, you know that, right?” Chara raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I know that now.” Alice retorted. “Give me a break, I was a little kid.”

“You know, I’m starting to wonder if this is how you normally are.” Chara commented. “If you weren’t submissive like you typically are. I mean, you get this way when science comes into the equation.”

“Yeah, it is.” Alice confirmed. “At least, it’s how I was before everything. But anyways, after about a year on the streets, my d-dad came back. He was rougher than he used to be, and he basically just grabbed me, and told me we had to run. We ran out of the country as soon as possible, and flew to here.” Alice said. “He always talks about how much I remind him of Mum. I don’t know what happened with them, but he hated me for it. He started me out in home school, and I wasn’t allowed outside except for on Sundays, and then he would take me somewhere. I looked forward to it every week. The abuse started when I would argue with him over a small detail. It started out as I would get excited to go somewhere on Sunday, only for him to tell me that as punishment, I couldn’t go out that week. Slowly, he started referring to me with hurtful names. He constantly criticized me, and he mocked my love for science, saying that STEM fields weren’t meant for women. That’s why I’m so skilled in science.” Alice explained. “I wanted to show that he was wrong at at least one thing. I love science. And I damn well belong in STEM fields.”

“That’s good motivation.” Chara commented. “Well, not that you were abused, but just to spite him.”

“Exactly!” Alice nodded. “Eventually, I did something. I c-can’t remember what it was, I think I tripped and spilled some flour while baking?” Alice put her finger to her chin in thought. “All of sudden, h-he just burst out screaming at me. Told me how I didn’t m-matter, how I j-just messed everything up.” Alice wiped away a tear that started falling down her cheek. “T-then he grabbed the rolling pin and s-smacked me in the shoulder with it, then p-punched me in the face. He left the room. I remember just sitting there, too shocked to c-cry. It was about six months after we had moved, so I was still trying to adjust to this new place. I hated it.” 

“The next day, he gave me a present, which was a toy I had said that I wanted the previous Sunday. He apologized for what he did, said that he made a mistake and that it would never happen again. But, it did.” Alice looked away. “Again and again. The next time, he broke my arm. Then, he beat me until I passed out. Each time, he would bring me something and apologize. Slowly, I started to break down. I wanted to believe him, I-I really did. Slowly, I began to realize that he wouldn’t change. But then, the abuse changed. Rather than apologizing, he would b-blame me for the abuse, saying that if I hadn’t done a thing, he wouldn’t have had to punish me. It happened more and more often. Slowly, I started to wonder if everyone was like this. If they would just hurt you, and keep coming back a-and making you feel l-like they were the victim. One day, he decided to start sending me to public school. That was this year. He’s been hurting me for five years.” Alice wiped away some tears. “The night I ran away, he found out that I had lied to him about what time school started and ended. He learned from Linda that I had been hanging out with you two and Alex. So, he tied me to one of my bedposts, took out a knife, and he told me that he would carve a tattoo in my upper back, to show that I was an object to someone. After he carved it, I managed to kick him in the crotch. As he jumped away from, I grabbed he knife that he had dropped, cut the rope he used to tie me to the post, and when he tried to grab me again, I-I…” Alice looked away. 

“W-what did you do?” Chara asked softly.

“I stabbed him in the hand. He screamed in pain. I...I still can recall it, the blood spurting out of his hand, the fear that filled my veins…” Alice let her voice drift off. After a minute, she added, “That’s when I ran. I knew I couldn’t stay. He would have killed me, I’m sure of it.” The tears Alice was fighting to keep from falling broke through like a rock through glass, and she completely broke down, crying. Chara pulled her in for a hug.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Chara whispered. “I promise, we’ll all try our hardest to get you out of that situation. Even if someone has to die.”

* * *

 

It took about an hour for Alice to calm down. By the time she had, Frisk and Asgore were sitting downstairs, having tea. They both looked up in surprise when Alice and Chara walked down.

“Ah you must be Alice. Its very nice to meet you.” Asgore smiled. “Would you like some tea?”

“No thanks.” Alice said simply, sitting down. Chara looked at her in confusion, but let it go. “Um, it seems like you know me, but I don’t know you.”

“Oh, sorry about that. My name is Asgore Dreemurr. I was the king of all monsters.” Asgore introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you.” Alice smiled sweetly.

“Nice to meet you too.” Asgore said. “So, it’s about 10:00, so I think you should go to bed, Frisk.” Frisk pouted at that. “Aw, come on, don’t pull that face.”

“Come on, Frisk. You need to go to sleep.” Chara said.

_ So do you! _ Frisk retorted.

“Nah, I don’t need to sleep.” Chara countered.

_ Aww… _ Frisk crossed their arms.

“Well, gotta go get ready, Frisk!” Chara smiled as the taller child walked upstairs. However, as they passed by Chara, they rubbed the top of their head. “HEY!” 

Frisk giggled as they ran up.

“Well, normally I would tell you to go to bed as well, but it seems that you just woke up from a two day sleep, so I don’t think you’re tired.” Asgore directed the sentence to Alice.

“Yeah, not really.” Alice shrugged.

“Would you like some cookies? There are a couple left over from when Frisk and Chara were baking earlier.” Asgore asked, holding out the plate.

“Sure.” Alice smiled and accepted a cookie.

“Go ahead and just take the plate with you, there’s a TV in the living room.” Asgore said quietly. “Would you like a cup of tea, Chara?”

“Sure.” Chara smiled.

“Alright. Go ahead and sit down in front of the TV, I’ll bring you a cup.” Asgore replied, getting up to make them the tea. Chara and Alice turned on the TV. A news station was on, and it featured those two reporters.

**_Speaking of them, why did they visit Dunkle Sans?_ **

“Alright, tonight on the 10 o’clock news, we are still in search of one 11 year old Alice Scott.” Chad started out.

“Any news on her, Chad?” Shannon asked.

“Well, according to one witness’s report, she was seen on Cambria Street at around 3 in the morning on Wednesday.” Chad said. “They even got a photo of her.”

The photo flashed on the screen. Alice could be clearly seen flinching away from something hidden in the shadows. Alice buried her head in the pillow.

“Well, this is certainly news.” Chad said. “I myself interviewed someone else, however, they were unable to give any useful information.”

“Well, not useful towards finding her, at least.” Shannon laughed.

“That’s right!” Chad laughed. “In any case, remember to call the number onscreen if you happen to find her.” Said number flashed on screen. Chara changed the channel.

“They’re still looking for me.” Alice sighed.

“It sure seems like it.” Chara commented. “Say, who were you flinching away from, anyways?” Alice was quiet in response.

“...oh.” Chara realized, their eyes widening. “What...what did he do?”

“...he basically told me to get home, so that he could punish me properly.” Alice sighed. “I tried digging through Sans’ pockets to find something to defend myself with, and I got a Hot Dog.”

“A Hot Dog?” Chara asked, trying to stiffle their laughter.

“Hey, it’s not funny!” Alice retorted.

“It’s actually pretty funny.” Chara smiled. “Those aren’t really hot dogs. They’re made with water sausages.”

“Water sausages?” Alice frowned.

“You know, the plants that look like sausages and grow in the water?” Chara prompted.

“Oh yeah.” Alice realized. “Well, in the other pocket, there was a Frying Pan for some reason, so I smacked him with that, knocking him out. After that, plus stabbing him in the hand, I just know he’s going to kill me.” She shivered, and pulled some blankets that Asgore had given the two of them closer as she buried her head into the pillow.

Chara frowned. That fear that someone was going to kill you...was this what Jimmy had felt? What all those monsters, when that force killed all had felt? They felt guilty for all their actions, even though they hadn’t really been theirs.

“Don’t worry.” Chara reassured the girl. “We’ll help you. We promise.” 


	23. Having an 'ice' time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice has an idea for something fun to do.

Chapter 23

 

As the two watched a late night TV show, Chara wondered how they were going to get Alice out of the situation.

**_I mean, she’s still technically missing. If they find her here, then Dad will get arrested. But we can’t call the number, or she’ll go back to her dad._ **

“So,” Alice asked quietly. “Did you want to do anything tomorrow?”

“I don’t know.” Chara said. “Why?”

“Well,” Alice said. “I was thinking. There’s an ice rink nearby. I can do my makeup so that no one can recognize me. Maybe we can go?”

“That’s actually a good idea.” Chara said. “We should ask Dad if we can go tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Alice smiled. “I actually have some makeup on me for reasons.”

“Reasons- oh.” Chara realized. “Bruises?”

“Yep.” Alice said. 

“Well, we should probably go to bed, I can ask Dad in the morning.” Chara said. “Or at least, you should.”

“But I’m not tired!” Alice frowned.

“Alright.” Chara shrugged, and settled into the couch cushions, losing themselves in the mindless program on TV.

* * *

 

“Hey Dad?” Chara asked the next day when he came downstairs.

“Yes, Chara?” Asgore asked as he made some coffee.

“Alice asked if maybe we could go ice skating today. She said she can do her makeup so that you can’t recognize her.”

“That’s a good idea. I can also drive you guys up to a rink where no one would know her.” Asgore said. “Do you want to grab Frisk and let them know that we’re going to the rink today?”

“Sure!” Chara ran up the stairs. “Wakey wakey, eggs and non-existant bakey!” They yelled into the room, jolting awake Frisk, who sat up in annoyance.

_ Chara, what the heck? _ Frisk asked.

“We’re going to a place that’s just like Flowey’s heart.” Chara smiled.

_ So, Atlantis? _ Frisk signed grumpily.

“No, the local ice rink.” Chara replied.

_ But that exists. _ Frisk pointed out. 

“Well, go get ready.” Chara said, trying to keep from laughing at Frisk’s bluntness. The kid lit up and hurried got up to get on warm clothing, which wound up being just their normal sweater and leggings, as Chara found out when they walked downstairs five minutes later.

“Oh, um, I don’t have anything to change into.” Alice frowned, holding a bagel.

_ You can use one of my sweaters. _ Frisk offered.

“Sorry, I don’t know ASL.” Alice replied. Frisk sighed and motioned for her to come with them. Alice shoved the rest of her bagel in her mouth and followed them. She came back a couple of minutes later with black stretchy pants and a pink sweater. 

“Huh, this is really warm.” Alice commented. “Thank you.”

_ No problem. _ Frisk smiled.

“Ugh, are you guys going to leave me all alone here again?” Flowey rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, but I highly doubt a cold rink will be good for you to be in.” Chara shrugged. Frisk nodded and sat next to Flowey, turning the flower towards them.

“What are you doing? You do realize it’s easy for me to-” Flowey started, but stopped as Frisk kissed him. Flowey flinched back, falling backwards. “Friiiiiiiiissssskkkkkk!” Frisk and Alice giggled.

“Well, we better get going at some point. Frisk, what would you like to eat? A bagel?” Asgore asked the human, who nodded and hummed in approval. “Alright. I’ll get Frisk their bagel, and then after they eat, we can go.”

“Sounds good. I’ll bring Flowey into our room and open the windows.” Chara said. 

“Don’t forget to feed me.” Flowey snapped from where he lay.

“Right.” Chara rolled their eyes as they picked up the fainted flower and went upstairs, Flowey’s head dangling from the flowerpot. As they walked the stairs, they realized that Alice was following them. As they opened the blinds next to the bedside table on Frisk’s bed, Alice sat on Chara’s holding a book. As Chara put down Flowey, they realized it was the book on dealing with abuse.

“...so I was right.” Alice said.

“What do you mean?” Chara asked.

“I tried confronting my dad about it once. He just laughed at me, and said that it only happens when one person hates the other. Since we’re family, we can’t hate each other. But he was wrong.” Alice put down the book. “He was wrong, Chara.”

“I know.” Chara sighed. They got up to feed Flowey.

“Um, what’s up with her?” Flowey asked.

“I’ll tell you later.” Chara explained, having no intention of doing so.

“...You’re not planning on it, are you?” Flowey narrowed his eyes.

“Nope.” Chara smiled as they fed Flowey. “See you later.” Before Flowey could say anything, Alice and Chara went downstairs.

“Alright, are you two ready to go?” Asgore asked.

“Yep!” Alice smiled.

“Let’s go then!” Asgore said, leading the three children to the car outside.

* * *

The benches at the rink were filled with people excited to skate on the ice. Chara felt a smile make an appearance on their face as they waited to get their skates.

“Are you ready?” They asked Frisk, who nodded excitedly. Frisk’s brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, which was long enough to touch their upper back. The three kids grabbed their skates and sat down to put them on. Asgore followed them, and Chara noticed that he did not have skates on.

“They don’t make skates that fit my feet.” He explained. “I’ll just be watching you guys.”

“Okay.” Chara nodded, standing up. The skates were a bit wobbly under their feet, although Alice and Frisk seemed steady.

“I may have to hold on to you guys.” Chara warned.

“Alright.” Alice shrugged. She was surprisingly good at makeup.

**_I can barely recognize her!_ ** They all walked into the cold rink and headed towards the open door to the ice. Chara held on to the wall and slowly, carefully, stepped onto the ice. They felt their legs start to slip under their feet and they grasped the wall like a lifeline. Alice was steadier than Chara, but Chara could tell that she wasn’t the best on the ice. Frisk, on the other hand, easily skated past them and around the rink, stopping next to Chara by slamming into the wall.

“Are you okay?” Chara asked. They couldn’t feel any pain coming from the taller child. 

_ I’m fine. _ Frisk signed, smiling as they pushed off the wall. They shook their head, their long ponytail swinging behind them.

“Alright then.” Chara laughed. Alice grabbed one of their hands and continued skating on, Frisk skating slowly next to them. The three chatted about various things, and then the science fair came up in the conversation.

“Oh yeah, the fair is in two weeks, isn’t it?” Alice asked. “What are your guys’ progress on that?”

“Oh, Frisk and I have gotten about 20 people each in a couple days, and Alex has gotten about 40. So 80 people in total.”

“What’s the standing hypothesis?” Alice asked.

“Red tends to be how a person would act in a fight. Pink tends to be how someone would react to a tough situation. Orange is how someone would be in confronting people. Blue is how a person acts towards others in their words, like whether or no they are truthful. Light blue is how a person reacts to waiting. Purple is similar to pink. Brown is how a person reacts to other people, but we have no data on that. Yellow is how a person judges others, like do they do it justly, or are they biased? Green is how they treat others in general. Grey souls are people who have no determination, although we have no data on that either. And white souls are monster souls.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of data.” Alice commented.

“And it seems that the results are proving it.” Chara said. “We just need to do an awesome poster and all that.”

“And we’re keeping it at your house? I know Jimmy destroyed Alex’s projects, and, well, you know my dad.” Alice looked away.

“Of course!” Chara waved her off.

“That’s good.” Alice smiled.

“And in any case, you shouldn’t be having to live with your dad any longer. Because I’m going to ask Sans for help.”

“Y-you are?” Alice raised an eyebrow.

“Yep. Did you know that he at least was planning on giving you back to your dad? Although I don’t think he knows about all that. He’ll stop as soon as he finds that out.”

“Oh. Well, at least he won’t.” Alice said uncomfortably.

“So, anyways, what’s your favorite color?” Chara said, trying to change the subject.

“Pink.” Alice smiled. As they continued on talking, Frisk kept skating around.

**_You know, Frisk is pretty good at this._ ** Chara thought.

They just watched Frisk giggle as they moved around the rink, while Chara held onto Alice for dear life.

“This is a lot of fun. Thanks for suggesting this!” Chara said to her.

“Oh, no problem. It’s something I’ve wanted to try for a long time, but I’ve never been able to.” Alice replied simply.

“Alright guys, it’s time to get off the ice for an ice resurfacing session!” The voice over the loudspeaker announced. Frisk skated back towards Chara and Alice to help them off the ice.

“How are you guys feeling?” Asgore asked as they came off the ice. 

“Pretty good.” Chara said, and Alice and Frisk nodded in agreement. “I’m really badly balanced.”

“It’s probably just practice.” Asgore said.

“Probably.” Chara shrugged. 

“Do you guys want hot chocolate or something? They have a cafe here.”

“Sounds good, Dad.” Chara said, sitting down at a table. As they sat down, they noticed that the lady in the table next to them moved her kids a bit away. Chara sighed.

**_Well, looks like we can’t have a day out without other people being rude._ ** They also noticed she was staring at Alice curiously, so Chara moved so that Alice was blocked from her view.

“So, what else do you want to do? I mean, tomorrow or something.”

“Oh, probably just stay around the house.” Alice shrugged. “Maybe bake some more. Or work on the science fair project?”

“That sounds good to me.” Chara replied. “I mean, there’s three out of four of us here. We can think of something.”

“Um, excuse me?” The lady behind them walked up to their table. “I’m sorry to interupt, but you look familiar.” She said to Alice.

“Really now?” Alice replied, tilting her head.

“Yes. Did my daughter maybe go to school with you at one point?” She asked.

“Nope. I’m homeschooled.” Alice crossed her arms.

“Huh. You look so familiar.” The lady got up closer to Alice, who backed off.

“Hey, maybe it’d be better if you go back to your kids. It looks like your son is having a ball with those nachos.” Chara spoke up. They pointed at said boy, who was pouring the cheese out from the nachos onto the table.

“Oh dear!” The lady ran back to her table, scolding her son and telling her daughter to grab some napkins. Before she could come back, Asgore came and gave the three kids their hot chocolate. Chara noticed that the lady frowned, and sat down to watch her kids.

“Who was that?” Chara asked Alice.

“I have no idea.” Alice shrugged. “Didn’t want her to see me. She seemed awfully suspicious.”

“Yeah.” Chara frowned.

“Well, the ice should be opening back up in about ten minutes, you three, so you have time to drink your hot chocolate.” Asgore told them.

_ Got it! _ Frisk signed excitedly, drinking their hot chocolate.

* * *

 

A couple more hours passed without any more problems.

“Well, that was fun.” Alice commented as she took off her skates.

“It sure was.” Chara replied. “We have to do something like this more often.”

“We really do.” Alice put her skates on the counter for the workers.


	24. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Toriel return from their vacation, and Alice is interviewed by Shannon and Chad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how you guys were talking about how happy the last chapter was?
> 
> =)
> 
> Enjoy~

Chapter 24

 

After multiple days of baking and working on the science fair project, the doorbell rang.

“Oh, howdy Sans, Toriel.” Asgore greeted them.

“Hey, Asgore.” Sans smiled back. “Hey kiddos.”

“Hey Sans! Guess who we found!” Chara smiled.

“Who did you find, kiddo?” Sans walked into the living room, and then paused at the sight of Alice working on the poster for the science fair. She still had Sans’ jacket on over her shirt. “Alice!”  
“Hi, Sans.” Alice smiled weakly.

“How did you get here?” Sans pulled the petite girl up into a hug.

“I...actually don’t remember. I was running from your place, and then...stuff happened, and then I woke up here.” Alice explained.

“Huh.” Sans frowned. “Well, I guess we have to report this.”

“Wait, what?” Alice asked.

“You see, I got a couple of visitors before we went on vacation.” Sans explained. “They mentioned several things about you. So, I want to ask-”

“About me and my dad?” Alice interupted.

“Yes, actually.” Sans blinked in surprise.

“Well, I’ll tell you later. Right now, we have some goodbyes, and I have a person to thank.” Alice turned towards Asgore. “Thank you so much for your hospitality.”

“Oh, it’s no problem.” Asgore said simply. “I...never wanted to hurt a child.” Toriel scoffed and left the room, rolling her eyes. “She won’t understand. I made a promise back then, one that I regret immensly.” Asgore shook it off. “But that’s a story for another time.”

“Huh.” Alice frowned.

“Well, we should probably take off soon. Unless you want to stay for te-” Sans looked at Toriel, who glared at him. “Never mind, we should go.”

“Alright. Well, it was nice to meet you, Alice.” Asgore said.

“It was nice to meet you too.” Alice bowed slightly.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that.” Asgore smiled. “I’m not a king anymore.”

“Oh, okay.” Alice paused for a second, and then went and hugged Asgore. He blinked in shock, and then hugged her back.

* * *

 

“Well, what’s going on with you, kiddo?” Sans asked Alice. They were back at home, and Frisk and Chara were upstairs unpacking with the help of Toriel.

“So, um, you know what you asked me about before, um, with my dad?” Alice looked down at her hands. “...You were right. Dad does-did.” Alice corrected herself. “He did hit me.”

“That’s what I thought.” Sans sighed. “Listen, kiddo. your father confronted me after you ran away.”

“He did?” Alice asked.

“Yep. He knew that you had been at the house. He told me he didn’t care about your well being as long as you were alive.” Alice looked at the ground at those words. “He even told me that he abused you, although he phrased it as ‘punishment for breaking the rules’.”

“Wait, what?” Alice looked up in shock. “He’s even loopier than I thought.”

“Sounds like it. He used my powers as leverage against me. I can’t get him convicted despite having a confession, because there is no evidence. But, if you confess, then he’ll be convicted.”  
“I don’t know.” Alice admitted. “You see, um, I have no proof that he hit me. Those SAVE POINTS heal everything, don’t they?”

“Pretty much.” Sans sighed. “That’s true. You really can’t just base a case off of an accusation. If there’s no proof, we can’t say anything.”

“Great.” Alice rested her face on her hand. “I can’t hide forever. Someone recognized me over the weekend, when we went ice skating, and I was wearing a full face of makeup then. Pretty soon, Dad’s going to find me again. And then we’re back to square one, except I’ll be dead.”

“What do you mean?” Sans raised a non-existant eyebrow.

“I defended myself twice by stabbing him in the hand when I ran away, and then I found a frying pan in your pocket when he caught me after I ran from your house. I hit him with it and ran to Asgore’s.” Alice explained. “If he finds me again, he’s going to kill me.”

“Well, he’s not going to find you again.” Sans retorted.

“You can’t just bring me back to Snowdin everytime you have to go somewhere.” Alice countered.  She added jokingly, “Grillby’s gonna get tired of me eventually.” Sans winced.

**_She’s right. But I doubt it’s so much that Grillby will get tired of her, that she’s basically alone down there with Grillby. Most of the monsters did move above ground, after all._ **

“Well, I have no idea what to do.” Sans sighed. “Quick question, do you mind if you talk to a couple of people? You would probably know one of them.”

“Like a therapist?” Alice asked.

“No, not really. Although we can put you in therapy, abuse takes a lot on your psyche.” Sans replied. Alice curled her fingers in her lap.“No, the people I’m talking about are two Child Protective Service Agents who visited me.”

“CPS?” Alice asked.

“They told me they’re suspicious of your father, and they just need proof to nail him. They wanted to interview you.”

“Alright.” Alice sighed.

“Okay, in that case, I will call them and let them know that you are here.” Sans got up and went to the telephone. “Let’s see…” Sans dialed CPS.

“Child Protective Services, what do you need?”

“I have a child here that ran away from home due to child abuse.” Sans explained. “I need to talk to Chad and Shannon.”

“Alright. I’ll send you to them.” A couple of beeps, then the phone started dialing again.

“Good morning, this is Chad Abbott, how can I help you?” Chad asked.

“I found her, Chad.” Sans said. Chad was silent for a minute.

 **_Probably trying to figure out who I am._ **  
“You found Alice?” Chad’s voice was a little more upbeat.

“She’s at the house right now. She says she’s up for an interview.” Sans said.

“Alright, we’ll be there in about two hours. Goodbye.” He hung up the phone.

“Chad? Shannon? From the news?” Alice asked.

“Yep.” Sans replied, sitting back down. “They’ll be here in about two hours.”

“Alright.” Alice replied, thinking.

“So, how did they get you to confess?” Sans asked.

“Wha?” Alice looked up.

“Chara. How did they get you to confess that you were being abused?” Sans asked.

“Um, do you know Chara’s past?” Alice asked.

“No?” Sans frowned.

“It’s...not my business to say.” Alice said simply.

“What did they tell you?” Sans asked.

“They just showed me a book on dealing with abuse and asked me if I was abused.” Alice said simply, wincing. Sans sensed that it was probably best to drop it.

 **_It’s a little frustrating to talk to her when she hides stuff. If I ask any more, I’m gonna start yelling._ ** He looked at Alice. **_And it seems like she’s scared of yelling._ **

“Well, let’s just wait for Chad and Shannon.” Sans said.

* * *

 

They got there in an hour and a half. Sans opened the door to see Chad and Shannon behind it.

“Heya.” Sans smiled.

“Good afternoon.” Shannon smiled. “Is Alice in the kitchen again?”

“Yes, she is.” Sans smiled.

“Sounds good.” Shannon turned to Chad. “Shall we?”

“Yep. Let’s finally catch that criminal.” Chad said, looking determined. They walked into the kitchen, where Alice was still sitting.

“Hey there.” Chad smiled.

“Hello.” Alice responded.

“Um, do you, for whatever reason, remember me?” Chad asked.

“Well, I’ve seen you on the news a lot.” Alice commented.

“Anything else?” Chad pressed.

“Not that I can think of…” Alice admitted.

“Alright.” Chad sighed. “So, where does the story start? When did your father start…” Chad let the sentence drop.

“It’s fine, I...don’t mind talking about it. It helps, honestly.” Alice explained. “Well, he didn’t technically start hitting me until I was 6. But he was neglecting me before that.”

“Go on.” Shannon said.

“Well, my parents started arguing over some money issue. I can’t remember what exactly it was.” Alice explained. “My mum would always send me out of the room before they argued, that’s how I knew. One day, she sent me to bed. I was listening to them argue, and then all of a sudden, it was completely silent. I fell asleep, and then when I woke up, no one else was home.” Shannon had taken out the paper notebook again and was writing notes on what Alice was saying.

“No one else? Not even your dad?” Chad asked.

“Nope.” Alice shook her head. “I think Mum just gave up and left Dad, and then he left also. I don’t know why Mum would forget about me, though.” Alice frowned. “But anyways, I asked the neighbors what had happened, and they said they had no idea what was going on. They didn’t like my family that much, but they wouldn’t turn down a child who was in need of food and water. About a month after, the house was taken, and I lived on the streets.” Sans frowned and looked away as he listened to Alice’s story.

* * *

 

“...And then, I stabbed him in the hand in self defense, and I ran.” Alice finished. “I ran to here. It was the only place I could think of. It was only a few blocks away, after all.”

“And what about this?” Chad held up the picture of Alice flinching away from something hidden in the dark.

“Oh, that was a couple days ago. I was running from here, and then Dad caught me. I knocked him out shortly after, and then ran to Asgore’s. I passed out for a couple days, and then here we are.” Alice explained.  
“Okay. And where were you during this time?” Chad asked Sans.

“Vacation with Tori. We left the kids with Asgore, that’s how we found Alice.” Sans explained.

“Okay.” Chad nodded. “Thank you for your time, Alice.”

“You’re welcome.” Alice smiled. “Was that enough information to get my dad?” Chad looked at Shannon, who sighed.

“Not exactly.” Shannon admitted. Alice’s smiled faded.

“What do you mean?” Sans asked.

“We have no proof that any of what Alice just said happened. After all, Alice’s bruises and all are gone.” Shannon said. “Without proof, none of that flies. If we don’t have proof, we need a confession from your dad.”

“And we’re not going to get one.” Sans sighed. Alice looked off in horror.

“No…” She whispered out loud.

“We’re going to try our best to get him. But, it’s looking more and more unlikely.” Chad sighed. “If you really wanted to, we could try to get more files on him, see if there’s anything else we can book him for, or you could try to get custody. But that one’s gonna be hard. You’re not part of her family, after all.”

“We’re gonna try. As hard as we can.” Sans said. “Thank you for coming.”

“It’s no problem. We’re gonna add Alice’s confession to her file.” Shannon said, closing the notebook. “Well, we’re gonna go try to find whatever files we can on her family.”

“Let me show you to the door.” Sans offered, standing up. He brought them to the door and opened it.

“Thnak you again for calling us.” Chad said. “We’ll be back as soon as we find information.”

* * *

 

Sans sat with Alice in the living room, playing Monopoly. Sans and Toriel had agreed that Toriel would take Frisk and Chara to the PTA meeting that night, and that Sans would stay home with Alice.

“And, done.” Alice smiled as she bought the last city.

“Damn, Alice.” Sans commented. “You’ve got me beat. First chess, then LIFE, and now Monopoly.”

“I’m good at board games.” Alice smiled. Suddenly, there was a rough knock at the door.

“I’ll get it.” Sans said, standing up. He opened the door, only to be apprehended.

“What?” Sans felt the officer roughly handcuff his hands behind his back.

“Sans Dreemurr, you are under arrest for holding a person hostage, threatening with a deadly weapon, and kidnapping.” One officer told him. “You have the right to remain silent.”

“Why are you doing this?” Sans asked as another went into the house. He felt his body go cold as his pupils disappeared and he realized exactly what was happening.

**_Paul…! But how did he know that I told? Wait..._ **

“Alice!” Sans yelled, his pupils coming back.

“Now, don’t worry, child. You’re going home.” Another officer cooed to Alice, who was dragging her feet onto the ground and crying.

“N-no! Don’t send me home! Please…! Not home! Anywhere but there!” Alice yelled.

“Alice!” Sans yelled.

“You have the right to remain silent!” The officer yelled, yanking him back towards the police car.

“Sans! Help me….!” Alice yelled tears streaking down her face as Sans was unceremoniously shoved into the car and had the door slammed into his face. He let his head drop as his pupils disappeared again and tears fell down his face.

**_What has been done? Now Alice will be back with her abusive dad, who is probably going to kill her…_ **

“Wait! I was just trying to help her! She came to me!” Sans yelled to the officer in the front. “Her dad hits her! Don’t send her back to her house!”  
“Yeah, and I’m the Queen of England.” The officer retorted, closing the fencing that separated the back and front seats.

And in that moment, Sans gave up.

**_Why bother? All of my work in helping her is going to waste.._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, don't forget to check out my ask blog for this fanfic! It's asktheundertalekiddos on tumblr :) I answer asks for the kids, and I also post sneak peaks of the next chapter!
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading, and stay turned for another update next week!
> 
> ~ Skater


	25. Unlikely Allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara finds themselves with an unlikely ally.

Chapter 25

 

Chara sighed as they walked into the room where they had the PTA meetings. They decided that they wanted to get to know a couple of the other kids. As they went to grab some food, they noticed that Jimmy, Anna, and Ashley moved away from them slightly. They felt a little bit of guilt, but shrugged and went to grab some brownies and some of the good lemon bars. They noted that none of the parents commented on their diet choices, although Paul was staring them down. Chara looked up and let their eyes go dark as they stared at him. He stared back. It wasn’t until they let that black goop drip from their eyes that he flinched and looked away.

**_Yeah, you better flinch, bitch._ ** Chara scoffed as they grabbed some fruit for the sake of it.  **_Now, who to get to know...How about Stella? She’s always by herself._ **

“Hi, Stella.” Chara smiled, sitting next to the girl.

“Oh, h-hi.” Stella replied as Frisk sat on the other side of Chara.

“How are you?” Chara asked.

“Pretty good.” Stella said. “How about you?

“Same. Frisk is pretty well, too.” Chara nodded to Frisk, who signed in agreement.

“Oh, that’s good.” Stella had a small smile. 

“How is your mother? Still busy with Ben?” Chara asked.

“Oh, that, and other issues.” Stella said. “Mama said that  _ mi hermano _ is in trouble for something.” 

“Your brother? Ben?” Chara asked.

“Oh, no, my other brother.” Stella said.

“An older brother?” Chara realized.

“Yep! I have five siblings!” Stella smiled. “Ben is the youngest, then there’s Aintza, then me, then June, then Clarisa, then Adrian!” 

“Oh really?” Chara asked.

“Yeah! How many do you have?” Stella asked.

“Just Frisk.” Chara explained.

“But you don’t look the same. Frisk looks more like me, and you look different.” Stella tilted her head.

“Oh, we’re both adopted.” Chara explained.

“Adopted?” Stella frowned.

“It means that Mom and Dunkle Sans took us in and became our new parents.” Chara explained.

“Dunkle?” Stella asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, Frisk came up with that. They still have to explain it.” Chara turned towards Frisk.

_ Dad plus uncle. Dunkle. _ Frisk signed shrugging. Chara explained this to Stella, who paused to absorb it.

“I still don’t get it.” She shrugged, smiling.

“I don’t either, don’t worry about it.” Chara reassured the girl while Frisk stared at them.

“Where is your Dada? Mama said that he’s normally here.” Stella asked.

“Oh, he had to stay home.” Chara paused, feeling uneasy. Was Paul staring at them again?

“Oh, why?” Stella asked.

“No reason.” Chara retorted, feeling bad. Stella rolled over to whisper to them.

“Is it about Alice?” Stella asked. Chara flinched.

“How do you know?” Chara whispered back.

“Being quiet has its advantages. Like hearing conversations. I overheard Alice’s Dada and your Dada talking about her. It sounded like he was at your house.” Stella said innocently. “I mentioned it to Mama and she asked me more about what I had heard. She made this.” Stella held out the paper.

“I can give it to him.” Chara offered.

“Really?” Stella squeaked. She perked up and grabbed the paper from her pocket. 

“Thank you-” Chara started to grab it, but Stella pulled it away.

“You have to promise that you’ll give it to your Dada!” Stella scolded.

“Okay, I promise.” Chara sighed.

“Pinky promise?” Stella held out her pinky.

“Pinky promise.” Chara promised, taking Stella’s pinky. Stella smiled and obligingly gave them the paper.

**_I can’t believe that’s still around…_ **

“So, what were you talking about before you mentioned your family?” Chara asked.

“Oh yeah!  _ Mi hermano _ got in trouble with Mama.” Stella smiled innocently.

“What did he do?” Chara asked.

“He got home late. Mama was so mad!” Stella giggled.

“Sounds like she would!” Chara commented, smiling. They were liking this kid more and more by the minute.

“Yep! I’ve never seen her so mad, not even when I broke the cookie jar trying to grab a cookie.” Stella chuckled. 

“Oh no! What happened with the cookie jar?” Chara kept Stella engaged in the conversation.

“Mama made chocolate chip cookies, and I could only eat one. But when she left, I tried to grab another, and I dropped the jar and it broke.” Stella’s face fell. “Mama’s not gonna make cookies for a long time now.”

“Aw, I’m sorry.” Chara patted the kid on the back.

“It’s fine.” Stella smiled quietly.

“Achem.” Linda coughed.

“It seems like the meeting’s about to start.” Chara said. “Let’s go.” 

“Alright.” Stella clung to Chara’s arm as they sat down in their seat next to Toriel.

“So, first thing on the agenda is the play auditions tomorrow. We have a list of the children auditioning right here.” Linda held up the list. “Obviously, several of these children will not make it. For whatever reason that may be.” 

“Right.” David nodded. “Are any of the children in here auditioning?”

“Yes.” Linda said. “Tommy, Anna, Ashley, Chara, and Frisk.” Linda raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. “Alice was also supposed to audition, but seeing her current situation, she cannot.” Chara swore they could hear Paul mutter something under his breath.

“The play is Suessical the Musical. The main roles are Cat in the Hat, Joey, and Horton.” Linda continued. “We are looking for a boy for Horton, someone masculine for Joey, and someone who is feminine for Cat in the Hat.” Linda put down the list. “Any questions?”

“Who’s judging?” Toriel asked.

“That will be me, David, Paul, and under insistance from a certain,” Linda clenched her fist. “skeleton, Mettaton and Papyrus.” Chara frowned.

**_Why Paul?_ **

“Paul is very qualified to do auditions.” Linda said simply.

“Did I say that out loud?” Chara asked.

“Yep.” Stella said.

“Darn it.” Chara muttered.

“And now, we have the science fair, which is two weeks from this Friday.” Linda continued.

“And of course, my daughter is going to win.” Diane scoffed.

“How do you know that?” Toriel snapped.

“She always does.” Diane retorted.

“At least MY kids do their own projects.” Toriel countered. “And they’re much more creative then a darn baking soda volcano.”

“Excuse you.” Diane gasped.

“Hey! Not now.” Paul interjected.

“You stay out of this!” Toriel yelled at him. 

“Hey!” Linda snapped. Toriel stopped and looked at Linda.

“Do you need to go do something? Or just take a walk or something?” Linda asked. “You’re more rigid than normal.”

“I’m fine.” Toriel said stifly. “It’s just that HE bothers me.” Toriel sat down without explaining.

“Alright then.” Linda was about to continue, but then, Toriel’s phone rang.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Hold on a second.” Toriel answered the phone. “Hello? Oh, Sans, I-” Toriel paused. Chara tilted their head in confusion at the look of horror that overtook Toriel’s face.

“We’ll be right there.” Toriel replied, hanging up. “Frisk, Chara, we’re leaving.”

“What? Why?” Chara objected.

“Hey! You can’t leave! We need your opinion.” Helen said sarcastically. Toriel gave her a look that would have the toughest monster shiver in horror.

“My husband has been accused of some crimes he did not commit. We need to leave. Now.” And with that, she picked up Frisk and led Chara out the door. However, just before leaving, Chara laid eyes on Paul.

And they swore that he wore a smirk on his face as they were unceremoniously yanked out of the room.

* * *

 

“Mom, what happened?” Chara asked as Toriel drove up to the detention center.

“I don’t know. All I know is that Sans was arrested.” Toriel frowned, near on the verge of tears. Frisk was stimming more than normal, and Chara could tell the uneasiness that seemingly oozed out of the child. Chara could only watch as they rubbed their arms and tapped on the seat, a frown on their face.

“I feel like Sans has a lot to tell us. Let’s go.” Toriel picked up the stimming Frisk, who struggled out of her grasp.

“Do you wish to walk, my child?” Toriel asked. Frisk nodded and ran ahead. “Hey, wait up!” Toriel and Chara caught up to Frisk as they entered the doors.

“Hello, we’d like to meet with my husband, Sans Dreemurr.” Toriel said. “He just called us about a half an hour ago.”

“Alright.” The guard at the clerk stand grunted and reluctantly grabbed his keys.  “Only one.”

“Excuse you?” Toriel snapped.

“Can’t trust them monsters with children.” The guard explained.

“I am a MOTHER. These two are MY children, and they are coming with me to see their father. And we will report you for this if you don’t let us through.” Toriel promised angrily.

“I’m pretty sure monsters can’t make human babies.” The guard shrugged.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Toriel screeched. Frisk frowned and hugged Chara’s arm.

“Mom, you’re scaring Frisk.” Chara warned her.

“I demand to see my husband with my children! He never told us what was going on!” Toriel ranted. Chara saw her start to summon some of her fire magic. Chara used their magic aura to hold her and keep her from summoning her fire magic.

“I think it’s in your best interest to let us through.” Chara said quietly, confused at their mother’s anger. 

**_Why is she so uncharacteristically angry?_ **

“You see, Frisk here is the ambassador to all of monster kind.” Chara explained. “They need to meet with him to discuss what he did.”

“Oh. Why didn’ ya say so in the firs’ place?” The guard asked. “Alright, I guess I’ll let y’all through.”

“Thank you.” Chara said.

* * *

 

“Sans, what happened?” Toriel asked, sitting down in the chair in a huff.

“I’m sorry, Tori. I didn’t think it was that important to tell you.” Sans explained sadly. 

“It clearly is, if it got you arrested.” Toriel sniffed. “So, what is it?”

“Well, it was the day after Alice ran. I was teasing Flowey, you know, normal stuff, when suddenly, we heard this banging on the back door.” Sans started sweating a bit, remembering. His eyes went dark. “I changed the gravity of whoever it was to put them more towards the ground. When I opened the door, it was Paul.” Chara felt their blood run cold and the color fade from Toriel’s face.

“I asked why he was there, and he responded that he knew Alice was in the house.” Sans continued. “We talked a bit more, and I found out that he didn’t care what condition she was in, he just didn’t want her dead. We talked more, and, um,” Sans looked away awkwardly. “I summoned a Blaster and pointed it at him to get him to talk. He took a picture of it and I didn’t think to take his phone.”

“Sans!” Toriel said in a scolding tone.

“After that, he confessed to abusing Alice.” Sans admitted. “But when I went to call the police, he pointed out that I had no proof that he actualy confessed, and that he had proof that I threatened him. Basically, he told me this; If I went to the police and told them that he was abusing Alice, he would go to the police and tell them I held him against his will and show them the picture.” Sans sighed. “He said that as long as I didn’t break my part of it, he wouldn’t. I had to agree, Tori. I...I didn’t want something like this happening.” Sans slumped, finishing his story.

“You had no choice.” Toriel sighed. “That man...is going to  _ burn in hell. _ ”

“Whoa, Tori. Death is too good for him.” Sans tried to calm her down.

“Everything is too good for him! You don’t hurt a child, and especially not  _ your _ child.” Toriel ranted. “Who knows what else he’s done? If you’re sadistic enough to hurt your kid, then there’s no telling WHAT crimes he could have done!”

“Oh, um, speaking of Alice.” Sans said.

“Where is she?” Toriel asked.

“The police took her back to her Dad’s. They wouldn’t listen to me when I told them that he was abusing her, and that’s why she was at our house.” Sans winced. “They think I kidnapped her.”

“No.” Toriel shook. “NO!” Toriel slammed the wall. “Fat load of good they are. They can’t tell a criminal if there was one underneath their nose!”

“Tori, calm down.” Sans said, looking surprised.

“No! This is an issue I am very passionate about! I care about that girl as if she were my own flesh and blood! I care about  _ you _ like you’re my own flesh and blood! I am NOT going to calm down!” Toriel stomped her feet.

**_I’ve literally never seen her like this before._ ** Chara thought.

“Throwing a fit isn’t going to solve anything.” Sans retorted.

“...You’re right. My apologies.” Toriel calmed down.

**_That was fast._ ** Chara blinked in surprise.  **_What’s going on with Mom?_ **

“Look, you guys need to get home. My court case is tomorrow.” Sans explained. “It seems like Chad is going to try to hire a lawyer for me.”

“Chad and Shannon?” Toriel asked.

“Yeah, they just visited.” Sans said. “Chad’s utterly confused as to why I got arrested. It doesn’t seem like there’s a way that Paul would have found out that I called CPS, so the only thing I can think of is that he’s a scumbag. Or that maybe he found out-” Sans stood up.

“What is it, Sans?” Toriel asked.

“Alice told me something. When you guys were at the rink, there was a lady there who seemed to recognize her with a full face of makeup on.” Sans explained.    
“Yeah. I can confirm that.” Chara said as Frisk nodded.

_ Do you think she told on Alice? _ Frisk asked.

“Probably.” Sans sighed. “Well, I don’t exactly have evidence that Alice was abused, so we’ll see how tomorrow goes.”

“Wait! Sans, I have something for you. Gloria’s daughter gave it to me.” Chara handed the letter to Sans.

“...Interesting.” Sans read it.

“What is it?” Toriel asked.

“A psychiatric report on both Alice and Paul. It seems like Alice’s behavior matches that of an abuse victim, and Paul’s matches that of an abuser.” Sans smiled. “This is it! I just have to report this, and then I can get Paul on trial. Thank you so much, Chara!”

“No problem, Dunkle Sans.” Chara responded happily. “The qustion is, how did Paul know that Alice was at the house? And how did he know that you told?”

“I don’t know, Chara.” Sans sighed. “I just don’t know.”

* * *

 

Toriel sighed and leaned her head against the car seat once they had parked in the driveway.

“Kids, we’re going to have to get through the next couple of days without Sans.” Toriel explained. “Best case senario, he’s able to get Paul on trial, and we’ll be done in two days. Worst case…” Toriel didn’t need to finish the sentence.

“Got it, Mom.” Chara said, as Frisk nodded. They opened the door and let Chara out after them. Chara ran to the door and opened it, and then collasped in the kitchen.

“...That’s what I thought.” Chara looked up at the familiar voice. Suddenly, they sat up, confused at the sight before them. Alice was sitting on the floor, the deconstructed telephone in front of her. She had gloves on and was holding a small, white device in her hand. She quickly put the phone back together, put the device in a plastic bag, and stood up, seeing Chara behind her.

“That’s how he knew.” Alice held out the device. “He bugged the phone.”

“How do you know it’s his?” Chara asked. Alice gave them a photo. Chara gasped at the photo.

In it was a drawer filled to the brim with the same exact device.

“He used to bug my phone, that’s how I knew how to take it out.” Alice explained. Chara pulled the girl into a hug.

“Thank you.” Chara choked out as Alice hugged them back.


	26. You Called For Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans gets a visit from Papyrus, Mettaton, and someone else...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> So, you might be wondering; 'Yo, Skater, why the fuck are you updating on a saturday???????'
> 
> Well, the reason why is because I am going to an ice show tomorrow! And I don't think I'll be able to update tomorrow. So, here you go!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter! ~

Chapter 26

Sans sighed as his family walked out. He knew this was stressful on them, and with Toriel's condition…

_**Well, she hasn't exactly told me yet. But I can guess. I'm no idiot. I mean, those mood swings are pretty clear. I wonder what our kid will be like...No Sans, you can't think about that now. You've got to figure out what's going on with this trial.** _

"If only I had someone to talk to." He muttered.

"YOU CALLED, DEAR BROTHER?" Sans looked up at the sound.

"Paps!" Sans sat up suddenly. "And Mettaton?"

"Yes, dearie. Toriel called us on her way over." Mettaton said.

"BROTHER, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO PUT YOU IN HERE? I KNOW YOU DID NOTHING! AFTER ALL, YOU'RE TOO LAZY TO DO ANYTHING." Papyrus asked, worry in his eyes.

_**That's my brother, all right.**_  Sans chuckled.

"Yeah, this time, I actually did do something." Sans sighed, his smile fading.

"OH NO." Papyrus' smile faded as well. "I WANT TO HELP YOU FIND A LAWYER OR SOMETHING! YOU CAN"T BE IN JAIL, YOU'RE A GOOD PERSON. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL HELP TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE." Papyrus crowed.

"That's right. I'll help you too." Mettaton added, sitting down in one of the chairs. "Take a seat, dear." Papyrus sat down as well.

"Thanks, guys." Sans smiled a bit. "Well, I do have something I want to talk about. There's a whole lot going on here, and I'm not entirely sure what."

"WE'RE ALL EARS BROTHER." Papyrus said, and then froze at the unintentional pun. "THAT WAS UNINTENTIONAL."

"Alright." Sans smiled. He took a breath. "Well, this case starts out where I'm accused of assault with a deadly weapon, and kidnapping. The assault was because Paul, Alice's dad, tried to break into the house. I used a blaster on him, but didn't fire it on him, and made him blue. The kidnapping is because Paul abuses Alice, and she was hiding at the house to get away from him. Paul figured out somehow that she was there and called the police on me."

"A-ABUSE?" Papyrus asked, shocked.

"I know you came in asking me about that, but I..." Mettaton was at a loss for words.

"The question is, how did he know she was there?" Sans asked.

"MAYBE HE HAS MAGIC HEARING." Papyrus said.

"Magic hearing…" Sans thought.

"Papyrus, dearie, Paul's a human." Mettaton said.

"OH." Papyrus frowned.

"No, you may be onto something." Sans said. "He could have put a bug somewhere in the house."

"A BUG? THAT'S GROSS." Papyrus commented.

"No, a listening device. He could have put it in the telephone and listened to my call to CPS." Sans stood up. "That's how he knew! It's the only way!"

"But how did he get it in the house?" Mettaton asked.

"Paps, can you call Toriel?" Sans asked. "Ask her to send Frisk to look for a broken window or anything that shows that someone was in the house."

"Why not Chara? They're smaller?" Mettaton asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I honestly don't know how much I can trust Chara." Sans admitted.

_**I mean, they did kill everyone in the last timeline. What's that compared to hiding evidence? Although, they did bring me the analysis from Gloria…** _

"...Alright then." Mettaton said as Papyrus hung up the phone.

"ALRIGHT, SHE SENT FRISK. THEY FOUND A BROKEN WINDOW IN THE GUEST ROOM UPSTAIRS." Papyrus announced.

"That's how he got in." Sans realized. "He broke a window."

"He must be really desperate to get Alice back if he's willing to go to lengths like that." Mettaton commented.  
"That's not even the worst of it. Paul's going to get off the hook if we can't pin that child abuse on him." Sans said.

"Yes, we need to try our hardest to get him on trial." Mettaton agreed.

"And there's more. Alice told me her story." Sans said. "When she was five, they started arguing over money- her parents, I mean. She went upstairs, and they were practically yelling, and all of a sudden, it went quiet-" Sans stopped. He had realized something horrible, and the pieces were starting to fall into place.

_**That's why he has no issue with breaking and entering, nor blackmail, nor child abuse! Because his crimes run far worse, far, far, worse.** _

"WHAT IS IT, BROTHER?" Papyrus asked.

"I just realized something. The story continues where Alice falls asleep, and when she wakes up, no one else is in the house." Sans explained. "I checked Paul's LV. It's higher than it should be."

"LV?" Papyrus tilted his head.

"Level of Violence." Sans explained. "It goes up when you gain EXP, or EXecution Points. And the only way to gain EXP is to kill."

"Sans, you're not saying…" Mettaton looked horrified, as did Papyrus.

"I am. I think Paul killed his wife. It's the only reason I can think of. In fact, I don't know how I didn't think of it earlier." Sans said.

"But how are you going to put that in court? It had to have happened over 6 years ago, and in a different country, too." Mettaton explained.

"DIFFERENT COUNTRY?" Papyrus asked.

"Yes. Alice is from Britain." Mettaton explained.

"OH."

"I have no idea." Sans sighed. "But we'll figure it out somehow."

"Yes, we shall." Mettaton agreed. "However, um, I do have to ask you something."

"What is it?" Sans asked.

"Is Toriel okay? She was very moody earlier."

"Yeah, she's fine." Sans smiled.

"Oh, that's good." Mettaton smiled. "Well, we should probably go."

"DO WE HAVE TO?" Papyrus asked.

"We have a reservation tonight. Remember, darling?" Mettaton replied.

"OH YEAH! I HOPE THEY HAVE SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus smiled. "I WILL SEE YOU LATER, BROTHER." He added as he left.

"Yeah. See you later, bro." Sans smiled as Papyrus and Mettaton left.

_**I'm glad they're happy.**_ Sans thought.  _ **Although, I do wonder if Toriel is…**_

Suddenly, Sans looked up to see a certain person walk in. He felt his eyes go dark as he saw Paul. "You."

"Yes, it's me." Paul taunted. "You know, I really thought you were going to comply."

"Well, I never planned for that." Sans retorted. "I know what you've done. Everything."

"Well, of course you do." Paul smirked evilly.

"No. It goes farther than just child abuse, doesn't it?" Sans said. "You killed Alice's mother, didn't you?" Paul blinked in surprise., then smiled evilly.

"So you admit it." Sans said coldly.

"Not necessarily. I'm not denying it." Paul shrugged. "Besides, whatever I did is better than what your daughter did."

"Frisk is not a girl." Sans retorted.

"Oh, I didn't mean Frisk. That little shit couldn't hurt a fly, everyone knows that. No, I mean the little demon that lives in your house."

"Chara?" Sans blinked.

"I see you aren't denying anything. You know, she and Linda's boy got in a fight last week."

"Linda's boy?" Sans asked.

"Jimmy. You know, Linda's child that she had to yell at last week?" Paul said. "They got into a fight. Chara and Jimmy. She nearly killed him." Sans stiffened.

"Chara promised…" Sans retorted.

"Well, I guess her promises aren't worth anything now, are they?" Paul laughed. "Now what are you going to do? Leave your wife and Frisk, as well as the baby with that demon?"

"How do you know about the baby?" Sans snapped.

"Oh, I hear things. Toriel was very moody at the PTA meeting earlier." Paul chuckled. "I chalked it up to, well, you know." Sans glared at him.

"But afterwards, Helen made a comment. I guess Anna had to look up stuff about monsters for health. For example, 'did you know a monster pregancy lasts only three months?'" He mimicked Helen's nasaly tone. "I realized it from then. Poor Toriel. All that stress must be bad for it." He taunted Sans. "I bet she loses it after you go to prison."

"You son of a bitch." Sans snapped.

_**I swear, if he continues, I am going to give him a BAD time.** _

"Oh? What are you going to do? Am I going to be flung against the wall? You know, everything you do to me is another charge against you, another way of proving that I'm right." Paul laughed. "Besides, it's not like you can use that camera footage against me, it doesn't record sound." Sans growled. "I am going to get back my daughter and give her the punishment she deserves, and you are going to jail. There's no way out of it. So give it up."

Sans glared at him, his eye glowing blue.

"I refuse. If you get Alice back, you're going to kill her. I know it, she knows it, you know it."

"Oh, but the court doesn't know that." Paul said innocently. "After all, the court is in my favor. I'm just a widower, hoping for my daughter back after she was taken by one of those horrid monsters. With everything against you, you should know better. After all," Paul leaned in close to the glass. " _since when were YOU the one in control here?_ " Paul laughed and left the room. Sans gulped and closed his eyes, hoping for someone, that certain someone to come to him and help him.

* * *

 

Somewhere else, in the deep darkness, a light shone. It was a small light, but a light in the darkness neverless. Slowly, a small object came. Slowly, getting brighter and brighter, it raised in luminosity until the object became a hand. Ever so carefully, as if it might break, hands appeared around the light, and then the hands flew out, searching for its other parts. They brought them to the light for approval, the light glowing and sending out the odd language in which the hands complied, dropping the pieces into the evergrowing darkness, or leaving with the pieces and coming back with new ones. It was then, that the call for help came. The light heard it, and it pierced with sadness. It spoke back, knowing that the darkness around them would absorb it as it absorbed all.

* * *

 

Sans waited. He waited for hours, long into the night. It wasn't until 3 in the morning, 8 hours later, that he finally tried again.

He called for help…

...but nobody came.


	27. Trials and Tribulations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of Sans' trial.

Chapter 27

 

Chara folded down their dress, frowning.

“Mom! Why does Frisk get to wear a suit?” They asked.

“I thought a dress might be better. It’s freer than a suit, and you can move around more.” Toriel explained.

“Oh.” Chara stopped.

“Well, we must get going. Sans’ court case is in an hour.” Toriel said, picking up both Frisk and Chara. Suddenly, she paused.

“I’ll be right back.” She put them both down and ran to the bathroom. She came back after a few minutes, and started to pick Chara back up.

“What about me?’ Flowey retorted. “I can go too!”

_ Yeah, can Flowey go? _ Frisk asked.

“I guess so.” Toriel shrugged. “I don’t know how human trials work. I guess they might be similar to monster trials.”

“Probably. I never saw one.” Chara said.

“Alright, let’s go.” Frisk picked up the flower pot and Toriel picked them up and left.

* * *

 

“Toriel! It’s nice to see you again.” Chad smiled and hugged her.

“Thank you, Chad.” Toriel smiled. “So, what exactly do you think happened?”

“We think that Paul found out that Sans had contacted us through that bug in you telephone that Alice found.” Chad explained. “He then decided just to accuse him of kidnapping as well as the other charges, because Alice was missing and she was there.”

“What happened to Alice after she left our house?” Toriel asked.

“I doubt Paul hit her. After all, it’ll cause questions in court if she has bruises and makes our case easier.” Chad replied.

“Well, that’s good that he didn’t hurt her.” Toriel said. “You know, I’ve been thinking about what Sans told me. About filing for custody of Alice. I mean, she doesn’t have any living relatives here in America. I want to. After yesterday, I realized that I love her as much as any of my other children.” Toriel announced.

“That’s great news!” Chad smiled. 

Toriel nodded. “It’s gonna be a bit hard, what with three middle schoolers and a sentient flower in our house.” Flowey looked at her suspiciously, and nodded to himself.

“What?” Chara asked him.

“None of your business.” Flowey retorted. “I can tell that Toriel knows something she’s not willing to share yet. And I know what it is.”

“What is it, then?” Chara asked, taking the flower from Frisk, who went to hang on to Toriel’s dress.

“I’m not telling.” Flowey retorted. “We have bigger things to worry about.” Chara turned to see Paul and Alice. Paul was wearing a fancy suit, clearly an expensive one. Alice wore a pretty, full, floor length dress that was a soft, pale pink that went well with her blonde hair and green eyes, and had a ribbon tied around her neck. was clearly keeping her hands wrapped tightly around a small clutch purse in her hands. 

“Hey, Alice!” Chara smiled. Alice smiled at Chara.

“Hi, Chara.” She replied. Paul stopped and watched them, tapping his foot impatiently and looking at his watch. 

“Waiting for something, Paul?” Chara asked dryly, holding Flowey in their hands.

“Oh, just for your dad to get is just deserts for kidnapping my child.” Paul smirked.

“That’s a lie and we both know it.” Chara retorted.

“Oh? Then prove me wrong in court.” Paul replied. “Oh wait, you have nothing to do with the case. You can’t!”   
“Fight me, Paul.” Chara snapped. “Alice, hold my flower.” They handed Flowey to Alice.

“I don’t hit little girls.” Paul sneered.

“Well, for one, that’s a lie.” Chara said simply. “And two, I’m not a girl. So  _ fucking fight me. _ ”

“One, you’re the liar.” Paul mocked Chara. “And two, whatever made up bullshit you think you are, drop it. You look like a girl, you are a girl. Drop the bullshit.”

“Oh, so we’re bringing gender into this now, are we?” Chara snapped. “It’s not like I identify as a chair or somehting weird like that. I just don’t like associating with either gender.”

“Well, tough shit. You’re a girl, now act like one and shut it.” Paul snapped. “Come on, Alice, let’s go.” Alice nodded, and looked at Chara and mouthed  _ I’m sorry _ while handing them Flowey back.

“That was rude. You know I identify as a flower.” Flowey snapped.

“That’s a little different. You literally are a flower. That’s not your gender, though. You’re male.” Chara explained. “I’m talking about people who answer the question ‘what gender do you identify as’ with ‘I identify as a chair’or something like that.”

“Oh.” Flowey said, quieting down. “Well, we should get back to Sans and M-Toriel.” 

“You can call her mom around me.” Chara shrugged. “I mean, I know who you are. So does Frisk.”

“Okay.” Flowey nodded as they walked back to their family. Sans, of course, was in his normal wear, a white t-shirt under a fluffy jacket and black shorts.

“Hey kiddo. You look nice.” Sans smiled.

“Thanks, Dunkle Sans.” Chara replied. “It sounds like Paul is ready to take you down.”

“Well, we’re prepared. We’ve got evidence on our side, and he has no proof that I kidnapped Alice.” Sans shrugged.

“Sounds good.” Toriel said. “Sans, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it, Tori?” Sans asked.

“Mr. Dreemurr, we must get to court.” A baillif came and told him.

“I’ll tell you after the case.” Toriel called out.

* * *

 

“May the court come in session for the trial of Sans Dreemurr.” The judge announced. “Are we ready to go over the details of the case?”

“Hold on.” Paul’s lawyer said. “Mr. Dreemurr, where is your lawyer?”

“Didn’t want one.” Sans shrugged. “Don’t need one.”

“...Alright then.” The judge sighed. “Are we ready?”

“Yes.” Paul’s lawyer stood up from where he was sitting next to Paul and Alice. Chara could tell that she was nervous. “Firstly, my client’s daughter went missing. Then, my client talked to the accused about her. He trapped him using magic, and pulled a weapon on him.” He continued.

“Which is shown by the photo that he took.” The judge said.

“Yes. This photo shows Sans summoning a weapon, and it is taken by my client.” Paul’s lawyer replied. “Miss Alice was later found at the house, when Paul called the police due to thoughts that she was at the accused’s house.”

“Hmm. This seems like a very strong case.” The judge said. “Shall we bring the accused up?” Sans talked with his lawyer.

“Yes, your Honor.” The lawyer said. Sans got up and walked to the chair. Paul’s lawyer went up to cross-examine him.

“Mr. Dreemurr, did you or did you not kidnap Miss Alice and summon a weapon on my client?” He asked.

“Yes and no.” Sans shrugged.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The lawyer retorted.

“I’m not gonna lie. Yes, I did summon a weapon on Paul over there, and yes, I trapped him.” Sans admitted. “It was only in self defense, though.”

“What does that mean?” The lawyer asked.

“He tried to break into my house.” Sans said simply. “But what I did NOT do is kidnap Alice. She came to us on her own accord.”

“And how are we supposed to believe that?” The lawyer coldly asked.

“Um, your Honor, if I may speak?” Alice stood up, only to be yanked back down by Paul, who seemed to angrily whisper something to her.

“Yes, Miss Alice?” The judge said. Paul glared at Alice, making her gulp as she stood back up.

“Sans is right.” Alice said. “I did go to his house on my own will. I stayed for about a day, and then I left and came back several days later.”

“Are you sure you’re not just saying that to get him off the hook?” The judge asked.

“I promise, I am not.” Alice said simply.

“Your honor, my daughter doesn’t know what she is talking about.” Paul tried to cover up what she said. “She’s traumatized from the kidnapping.”

“No, I’m not.” Alice retorted.

“Alice, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Paul said. “When I started wondering if you were at his house, I was so worried.”

“Oh, don’t give me that crap. You knew I was at his house.” Alice retorted.

“Miss Alice! How are you going to say that you knew he was at your house?” The judge asked.

“Your Honor, may I-” Alice started to say.

“Alice, stop.” Paul said, looking at her angrily.

“But-”

“No. She has nothing to say. She has nothing to contribute to this case. I want her out of here.” Paul told the judge.

“What? Why?” Sans asked. “If she’s not hurting anyone, let her stay.”

“I want her out.” Paul retorted.

“Why? Does she have anything that can contradict your story or something?” Sans smirked, putting his hands in the pockets of his shorts. The judge suddenly started thinking.

“Get her out.” Paul retorted. “Or I’ll take her out myself.”

“Baillif. Please take Miss Alice out into the hall.” The judge sighed. A female baillif walked up and led Alice out of the courtroom. “Mr. Scott, why did you want your daughter out of here?”

“Like I said, she has nothing to contribute to the case.” Paul shrugged. “Sans is guilty. That’s all that matters.”

“Hold on one second. Alice confirmed that Sans did not kidnap her. So he is guilty of everything else, as he confessed.” The judge said.

“Just give me my kid back, and we’ll be golden.” Paul shrugged. “I’ll even drop the other two cases if I have her back.”

“What? Do you want to punish her for running away again?” Sans retorted.

“Mr. Dreemurr! What do you mean by this?” The judge asked.

“I would like to ask Paul something. Was Alice happy living with you?” Sans said.

“Yes. She was very happy. You know, after my wife died, and we moved here from Britain, we just had each other to depend on.” Paul said.

“In that case, I direct my next question to the court.” Sans stood up. “If Alice was so happy living with her father, why would she run away and take cover at multiple people’s houses for over a week?”

“That is odd.” The judge realized.

“We have to think of motives.” Sans insisted. “If Alice truly was happy living with her father, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

“If, schmiff.” Paul’s lawyer snorted. “Give me proof that Alice wasn’t happy living with her father.”

“Well, for starters, I have this behavioral analysis that a friend took of Alice and her father. I think you’ll find it very interesting, your Honor.” Sans took out the piece of paper. A baillif came over and gave the paper to the judge.

“Hmm, it seems that Alice shows signs of low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. It is also noted that she often has injuries. And Paul is shown to be very threatening and dominant over Alice, often being possessive of her and controlling.” The judge read. “What does that mean, Mr. Dreemurr?”   
“Your Honor, those are all signs of abuse.” Sans said. The court started chatting at that.

“Order in the court.” The judge said. “Abuse?”

“Your Honor, may I?” Paul’s lawyer stood up. “Who exactly gave you the report?”

“I believe it was the psychology teacher at the school that both Alice and my children go to.” Sans said. “Well, I got it through my child Chara. They said they got it from the psych teacher’s daughter.”

“Well, we should probably talk to the both of them.” The judge said.

“You mean both Chara and the psych teacher?” Sans asked.

“Yes. Baillif, I want you to find the psych teacher and bring her here. Sans, is your daughter in the audience?”

“Yes, my child is in the audience.” Sans said.

“In that case, I want a 45 minute recess while we talk to both of them and see if either of them should testify.” The judge decided. “Court is adjurned while this goes on.”


	28. Trials and Tribulations part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Sans' trial as it starts to come to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I found out that I am 7 chapters ahead.  
> I have decided to do an update once per day, every day this week. So here's the next part of Sans' trial!
> 
> Enjoy~

Chapter 28

 

“Sans! Are you okay?” Toriel asked as they left the court room.

“I’m fine, Tori. I didn’t think that the judge would let Paul do that with Alice.” Sans sighed.

“I couldn’t believe it either.” Toriel shook her head. “Chara, you should probably head towards the judge’s chambers.”

“Okay.” Chara said, walking towards the chambers. “Where is it, though..? I should probably ask someone.”

As they walked around, they suddenly heard two people talking. They hid and listened, and quickly realized who was talking.

“How dare you embarrass me in front of everyone.” Paul was saying coldly.

“I-I’m sorry, but i-isn’t the point of a case to get a person the r-right punishment?” Alice asked quietly.

“Shut it. You know what our promise was before? Where I wouldn’t punish you if you refused to talk in court today? I’m considering breaking my half since you broke yours.” Paul snapped quietly.

“I-I’m sorry! I...I didn’t reveal anything bad…”

“He’s going to try to take you away from me! I’m your father, Alice. Do you really want to leave me all alone, with no one to care for?” Paul asked sadly.

“No!”

“No, it seems like you’ve made up your mind. You want to leave so badly, I guess I’ll let you. And you know what happens to children who leave their parents?” Paul asked. Alice sadly shook her head. “They die on the street. I’m only keeping you safe and training you for the real world. You know that.” Chara gasped quietly. “Wait. Who’s there?” Paul called out, but as soon as he turned, whoever was there was gone.

Chara ran to the baillif.  **_I can’t say anything about Alice. It’s coming up in court, after all._ ** “Excuse me? Do you know where the judges’ chambers are? I was called in for an interview.”

“Ah, are you Chara?” The baillif asked. “Come with me.” He brought them to the chambers, where Gloria was already chatting with the judge.

“You must be Chara. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The judge smiled.

“Nice to meet you too.” Chara smiled.

“So, I brought both of you ladies here to talk about this.” The judge held up the psycheatrical report. Gloria looked at it curiously.

“Um, I apologise if I’m being rude, do you mind just referring to me with gender neutral pronouns?” Chara asked.

“What do you mean?” The judge asked.

“It would make me feel a bit less nervous if you referred to me as ‘they’ or ‘them’ with pronouns.” Chara explained. “It’s what people normally do when they don’t know someone’s gender.”

“Oh, I have no issue with that whatsoever.” The judge waved them off. “It’s not the weirdest request I’ve gotten. It’s no issue.” Gloria grabbed the paper as Chara sighed in relief.

“How did you get that?” Gloria asked.

“Sans brought it into court.” The judge explained.

“No, who gave it to him? It was on my desk this morning.” Gloria said.

“Chara brought it to him.” The judge said.

“Stella gave it to me.” Chara added.

“How did Stella get a hold of that document?” Gloria wondered out loud. “She shouldn’t have access to my office.”

“Who is Stella?” The judge asked.

“Stella is my 9-year-old daughter. She’s also my second youngest.” Gloria explained.

“Ah.” The judge nodded. “So I assume we don’t need to bring her in?”   
“I don’t think so.” Gloria said.

“Wait, Goria. I’m really sorry to say this.” Chara sighed. “But she might know something.” Chara explained what Stella said to her.

“Well, I did bring Stella with me. If she’s okay with testifing. I want to get an abuser in prison.” Gloria said simply.

“I understand. Abuse is a crime that in my opinion, is up there with murder.” The judge said. “So, what credentials do you have? As a psychologist, I mean.”

“I spent five years working as a professional psychologist. I recently resigned and started teaching this past year.” Gloria explained.

“Why, if you don’t mind me asking?” The judge said.

“My late husband wound up getting diagnosed with cancer. It was too late to save him. So I started teaching to be able to spend more time with the kids.” Gloria explained. “I teach at their school, after all.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” The judged bowed his head. “Alright then. So, anything else you have to say?”

“None.” Gloria said.

“I do.” Chara said. “You might want to have Alice testify, and then after she testifies, have her leave the room.”

“Why?” The judge asked.

“Because Alice has a lot to say about the subject.” Chara replied. “And however Paul reacts, I don’t think she’ll want to be in the room for. Because Paul is going to be angry as all hell.”

“Understood.” The judge nodded. “In that case, I will bring the court back to order, and then you and Stella will testify. If that’s okay with you, Gloria.”

“It’s perfectly fine.” Gloria nodded.

* * *

 

“May the court come back into session.” The judge announced. Chara sat next to Gloria and Stella, who was kicking her legs out.

“First, I want to bring up Miss Stella to the stand for her testimony, and then Chara.” The judge said the schedule for the day.

“Alright.” Paul’s lawyer said.

“Now, when Stella comes up, I want you to be careful with her.” The judge warned.

“Why?” He asked.

“You’ll see. May we have Miss Stella come up to testify?” Stella got off of Gloria’s lap and walked up to the chair. She sat down smiling.

“A child? Do you really think she’ll be that honest?” Paul sneered.

“She’s 8. They tend to be brutally honest as it comes.” The judge said. “My granddaughter is very blunt.”

“It’s true.” Paul’s lawyer said.

“Frisk was extremely blunt at 9. I didn’t know them at 8.” Sans added.

“Alice wasn’t.” Paul retorted.

“Yes, but unlike you, I didn’t force my child to be a shell of their personality.” Sans put his head on his fist condensendingly.

“At least I didn’t kidnap someone’s kid and then accuse their parent of abuse to try to get off the hook.” Paul retorted.

“Well, I didn’t.” Sans snorted. “And it doesn’t seem like you’re denying what I said before.”

“ANYWAYS, let’s get on with the trial.” Paul retorted. “What do you have to say, Stella?”

“Well, I have a pretty good memory.” Stella started. “And I’m a reaaally good listener. Like how Mama wants me to be. So I heard that guy and that guy talking.” Stella pointed to Sans and Paul. “Um, what are their names?”

“That’s Sans and that’s Paul.” The judge said.

“Okay, so Sans and Paul.” Stella paused and cracked her knuckles.

“Where did she pick up that habit?” Gloria muttered. “I sure don’t do it.”

“Well, Paul asked Sans if he had seen his daughter, which Sans replied that he may have. Paul then said that Alice went missing about 10 PM the previous night. Paul also said that she tends to fake stuff like tying herself up for attention, and that gets bruises all the time from falling because she’s clumsy. Sans then pointed out a cut in the middle of his hand and Paul said that he slipped and cut himself while cooking.” Stella finished.

“Wow, that’s a lot to remember.” The judge said. “And so specific too!”

“Hell, I don’t even remember that whole conversation. And there was a lot of chaos going on with your brat’s prank.” Paul said.

“I don’t remember it entirely either. But now that I think about it, I think that’s what happened.” Sans shrugged. “And my child is not a brat. They were pulling revenge on a bully.”

“Whatever you say.” Paul shrugged. 

“Now, you said something interesting.” Paul’s lawyer said. “You said that Alice ties herself up for attention. What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask him? Or Alice?” Stella retorted. “I’m not the right person to ask.”

“Alright. Why does Alice tie herself up for attention?” The lawyer asked Paul.

“Honestly, I have no idea. Luckly she’s been homeschooled up until last year, or we would have had some issues.” Paul growled.

“Well, it seems like we’ve gotten all we can from Stella.” The judge said. “How about we bring Chara up to testify now?”

“Sounds good.” Sans shrugged. Chara stood up as Stella walked back to sit down. They sat back in the chair and reclined.

“Alright, so what are you testifying about?” The judge asked.

“I’m talking about what I’ve noticed about Alice.” Chara said.

“Alright, go ahead.” The judge nodded.

“Well, I’ve noticed that Alice, for one, is scared of her dad. When she asked me to work on the science fair project, she mentioned that her dad wanted her to do it with fear in her eyes. When she visited us for the first time, she looked like a kidnapping victim. There was blood all over the back of her shirt, she was bruised everywhere, her wrists had rope on them like she was tied up, and she had a muffle on her neck, like it was tied around her mouth. She’s scared of yelling, and she even confessed to me herself that she was abused.” Chara finished, tapping their foot on the ground.

“Okay, so firstly, what other proof of her being scared of her father do you have?” 

“Well, firstly, she gets all stuttery when she mentions her dad. Secondly, she ran away from her dad. That should be enough proof.” Chara shrugged.

“It isn’t, but alright.” Paul’s lawyer said. “Secondly, what do you mean, there was blood all over the back of her shirt?”

“It seemed like she had an injury on her upper back. She had blood all over her shir-” Chara sat up. “Wait! I know how to show you that my testimony is right without a shadow of a doubt!”   
“What is it?” Paul’s lawyer said.

“We just need Alice. She told me that Paul gave her a nasty cut on her upper back.”

“Chara, the SAVE points heal everything.” Sans sighed.

“No they don’t.” Chara shook their head. “If the cut scarred, it would still be there.” Sans sat up.

“You’re right! The only thing monster food and SAVE points don’t heal are scars!” Sans stood up. “Your Honor! We need to get Alice in here to testify, now.”

“Alright. Baillif, can you grab Miss Alice?” The judge asked.

“Sure.” The baillif left the room, and came back with Alice, who was quiet.

“Miss Alice, we need you to testify about a scar on your back.” The judge explained.

“A scar?” Alice asked. She looked at Paul nervously. “I have several scars. But they healed. I ate some monster food.”

“Monster food doesn’t heal scars, Alice.” Sans explained. “At least not scars like what we’re looking for.”

“Oh.” Alice frowned. “Well, I have no idea what you’re talking about, then.”

“Do we need to go over all that song and dance we did before, Alice?” Chara asked. “You wanted to help yourself before!”

“But it’s useless. That’s what everyone said before.” Alice pointed out. “My testimony means nothing.”

“No it doesn’t!” Sans retorted.

“You have nothing to say, Alice?” Paul said. Alice looked conflicted. Paul glared at her.

“I said, do you have nothing to say?” 

“Nothing.” Alice whispered quietly. “Nothing at all. Just that Sans didn’t kidnap me. I ran away like the fool I am. I stayed at his house for a day, and then left. Please leave him out of it.”

**_No!_ ** Chara looked at her desperately, but Alice avoided their gaze.  **_This can’t be it! It can’t be!_ **

“In that case, the case of kidnapping is dropped. However, you still have the charges of assault and threatening with a deadly weapon.” The judge decided. “In those cases, I pronounce Mr Sans Dreemurr, guilty.” The judge banged his gavel on the stand, leaving Sans with the smile faded off his face. Toriel froze, shocked, and then buried her face in her paws, crying. Chara felt a wave of sadness, and saw Frisk with tears in their eyes as well, as they took off their glasses and wiped their eyes with their sleeve. Chara too, felt salty tears fall down their face.

“I sentence you to 2 years in jail and a fine of $5,000.” The judge announced. “This case is-”

“Hold on a minute!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could it be??? Is this the end????
> 
> Find out next time =)


	29. Tryouts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara, Frisk, and MK all try out for the school play, and Chara realizes what Sans already knows.

Chapter 29

 

Suddenly, Shannon and Chad burst into the room. Immediately, ballifs tried to hold them back. “Your honor! We have new evidence and a new witness!”

“Who are you two?” The judge demanded.

“Child Protective Service agents Shannon and Chad.” Chad held out his badge, which one of the ballifs took.

“They’re the real deal, your Honor.” The ballif announced.

“What evidence do you have?” The judge asked.

“We have a recording of us interviewing Alice, a recording of us interviewing Sans, and a witness; The king of all monsters, Asgore.”

“New evidence and a new witness?” The judge raised an eyebrow. “In that case, I retract my earlier statement in light of this new evidence, and the case will be extended to tomorrow.”

“Um, your honor, I also have some evidence.” Alice said, shyly holding out the telephone bug in a plastic bag and the photo.

“Alice! Put that away!” Paul scolded. Alice flinched and motioned to put them away, but the judge stopped her.

“What is it, Miss Alice?” The judge asked.

“This is a d-drawer in my house. It’s full of these.” Alice held up the bug. “And this is a b-bug. Like what you would put in a telephone. If you tested fingerprints, I’m sure you would find my d-dad’s. They’re his, after all.”

“What?” The judge looked shocked. “Ballif! Get these tested!”

“Alice! I can’t believe you would frame me like this! I’m your father!” Paul yelled.

“I’m not f-framing you!” Alice cried. “I’m just doing the right thing, which is to get you arrested!”

“You don’t even have proof that I put it in there! How could I, they were in their house the entire time!” Paul scolded Alice, who shrunk under her dad’s lecturing.

“Actually, your honor.” Sans spoke up as the judge, Alice, and Paul looked at him. “My wife mentioned that there was a broken window in the house yesterday. We took a vacation over a course of five days, and in that time, there was no one in the house. Paul could have easily broken in then and placed the bug.”

“I never bugged anything!” Paul retorted.

“Baillif! Take Paul into custody. As of now, you are under suspiscion.” The judge announced as a baillif came up and handcuffed Paul. “Miss Alice, I will put you in the care of these two CPS agents for the duration of this case.”

“Yes, your honor.” Alice nodded.

“What’s going to happen now, your Honor?” Sans asked.

“Well, the case is still unresolved. We will postpone the case until tomorrow, and we will revisit it then.” The judge announced. “I want Chara and Alice to be there to testify, as well as the new witness. Court is adjourned for the day.”

* * *

 

“That was close.” Sans commented as he walked out. Toriel immediately picked him up in a tight hug.

“I thought I was gonna lose you.” Toriel said, crying.

“Tori, it’s okay. We’re gonna be okay.” Sans comforted her. “What did you want to tell me before?”

“I want to try to get custody of Alice after this is all over.” Toriel explained.

“We can apply for it if you want. I like the kid quite a bit myself.” Sans said.

“I do want to apply for it.” Toriel said simply. “And now, I need to bring Frisk and Chara back to school. They have auditions today.”

“Oh yeah, auditions! I forgot!” Chara realized. “Let’s go! Race you to the car!” Chara took off as Frisk ran as well.

* * *

 

Chara sat in their chair next to Frisk and MK, with a number 35 on them. Currently, they were auditioning number 25-32.

“Are you ready guys? I’m so nervous.” Chara admitted.

“I am too, dude.” MK flicked his tail. Frisk nodded in agreement. While Chara was wearing their usual leotard, shorts, and tights that they wore for dance, Frisk wore a shirt and leggings, while MK wore a fitted shirt.

“Alright.” Mettaton came in and looked at his list. “I need numbers 33-40.” Chara, Frisk, MK, and several other kids walked into the audition room, where the judges were sitting.

“Okay, so first, I need number 33 and 34.” Linda said. Frisk and another kid stood up and walked to the front of the room. Immediately, Linda waved Frisk off. “I’m sorry, but you can’t talk. That immediately takes you off the list for auditions.”

“HEY, LET THEM TRY. MAYBE THEY CAN PLAY A MUTE PART?” Papyrus asked.

“There is no mute part.” Linda retorted. “If she can’t sing and can’t talk, she can’t be in the play. You know that, Mettaton.” Frisk flinched at the casual misgendering, and Chara swore they saw tears start to fall down their face.

“...I…” Mettaton was helpless. “I’m terribly sorry, darling. I’m not the one in charge here, Linda is. She’s not going to change her mind. But, can you at least see if they can dance or something?” Mettaton asked Linda.

“No. There’s no point in her auditioning if she can’t sing and can’t talk.” Linda repeated as she clicked her pen. “Okay, Frisk, shoo.” She waved them off. Frisk visibly cringed and sat off to the side to wait for Chara and MK. Chara felt sadness reminate from Frisk as they buried their head in their hands.

**_Poor Frisk. They were looking foward to this so much, too…_ **

The girl who was #33 did her audition and sat down a bit aways from Frisk. “Okay, I need #35 and #36.” Chara stood up, as did MK.

“Alright. So first, I’m giving you guys both a monologue to read.” She nodded to David, who handed them the monologues. “Chara, you go first.” Linda was smirking as if she knew Chara was going to fail.

 **_Well, lady, I’m gonna prove you wrong._ ** Chara cleared their throat.

“This morning a bird woke me up. It was a lark, or a peacock; something like that. So I said hello. And it vanished, flew away, the very moment I said hello!” Chara read vividly. “It was quite mysterious. So do you know what I did? I went to my mirror and brushed my hair two hundred times, without stopping. And as I was brushing it, my hair turned mauve.” They said vividly, as if they couldn’t believe it themselves.

“No, honestly! Mauve! Then red. then some sort of a deep blue when the sun hit it.... I'm sixteen years old, and every day something happens to me. I don't know what to make of it. When I get up in the morning and get dressed, I can tell...something's different. I like to touch my eyelids, because they're never quite the same. Oh, oh, oh! I hug myself till my arms turn blue, then I close my eyes and cry and cry till the tears come down and I can taste them. I love to taste my tears. I am special. I am special! Please god, please, don't let me be normal!” Chara finished, the last word lingering in the air. Mettaton looked at Chara proudly, several of the kids in the corner were clapping, and even Linda seemed impressed.

“That was the best audition I’ve seen in quite a while.” Linda admitted. “Now, your turn, MK.” MK read his monologue, although Linda didn’t seem as impressed. Chara thought that they saw her whisper something to David, who nodded in agreement.

“Alright. Now for your solos.” MK went first, and while he was good, Linda didn’t seem too happy. Chara went, and after they went, Linda was writing something down, and then she nodded.

“Thank you for your auditions. Next! #36 and #37!” Linda announced as Chara sat down next to Frisk.

 _That was amazing!_ Frisk signed happily.

“Thank you.” Chara smiled. After the rest of the group went, Linda addressed the auditioners.

“The list will be up tomorrow after school. Have a nice day.”

The kids all left, and Frisk and Chara were picked up by Toriel.

“How did the audition go?” Toriel asked.

“Pretty well for me, but they didn’t let Frisk audition. Linda completely overrode both Papyrus and Mettaton’s objections, and refused to let them audition.” Chara said.

“What?” Toriel looked at them in shock.

“It’s because they don’t like talking.” Chara explained.

 _It’s uncomfortable._ Frisk signed. _I prefering signing._

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk either.” Toriel sighed.

“Linda said that there’s no point in even auditioning if they can’t talk or speak.” Chara said.

“Well, Linda’s an inconsiderate b-witch.” Toriel corrected herself. “I’m going to have to talk to her about this.” Frisk nodded, wiping away a tear.

* * *

 

Chara sighed, sitting up in their room with Frisk, sitting across from them.

“Hey Frisk, I got an idea.” Chara said. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, it’d just be a good idea to dunk Linda.” Frisk sat up.

 _I’m all ears._ Frisk signed.

“Okay, so first…” Chara said, and then switched to sign language. _You need to sign up for stage tech._ Frisk nodded. Chara explained the rest.

_Are you okay with that? We can disregard it if you don’t want to do it._

_No, I want to. Let’s dunk Linda!_ Frisk smiled and softly punched their fist into the other hand.

“Alright, it’s a plan.” Chara and Frisk fist bumped. “Now, what are we going to do about Alice and her dad?”

 _Well, It should be handled in court._ Frisk said.

“Yeah, but I can’t help but worry.” Chara replied. “I mean, Mom was right. If he could hit his own child, what else could he do?” Suddenly, they got a thought. It was a small, yet horrific thought, and it honestly scared the crap out of them and made their blood go cold to think it.

 _Chara? Are you okay?_ Frisk frowned, tapping the bed.   
“I just got a horrible thought. Think about it. Paul’s obviously a sociopath. He ditched Alice at the age of five to go who knows where, and her mother was out of the picture. Alice said herself that her mother and Paul were arguing and it just suddenly went quiet.”

_So what are you saying?_

“There’s a huge part of the case missing. I need to ask Sans what Paul’s LV is. Or at least, how to check it so that I can see it myself.” Chara said. “Or I can ask Flowey or Alphys. Flowey has Determination, so he might know.”

* * *

 

“You want to know what?” Flowey asked as Chara and Frisk were sitting on either side of him. Frisk had grabbed some markers and started drawing on his pot.

“How to check LV.” Chara said. “You must know how to do it, don’t you?”

“Erm, yes I do.” Flowey looked away. “But why should I tell you!?”

“Because if you don’t, then there’s a huge part of the case we’re missing.” Chara explained. “You see, Paul has the mindset of a sociopath. Keeping that in mind, go back over Alice’s story.”

“Hmm..Alice’s parents argued a lot. Alice was in her room when an arguement was going on and it suddenly went silent...You don’t think that-” Flowey’s petals flattened back in shock.

“I do. I think Paul killed his wife.” Chara said. Frisk stopped drawing and looked at Chara in shock.

 _That’s a bit extreme._ Frisk signed.

“Not everyone’s a pacifist, Frisk. This is why I wanted to destroy humans.” Chara retorted. “These kind of people, the kind of people like Paul, were the only people I knew. They were the people that-” Chara shook their head, not wanting to reopen old wounds. “The point is, you may have gone through without killing anyone, but I guarantee that there are many people who would have killed. Over and over and over, just for the fun of it.” Frisk shivered at Chara’s words. “All humans have Determination. They would have reset over and over and over, and gone through killing over and over and over.” Frisk covered their ears. Chara then realized how uncomfortable they were. “Sorry.” Frisk slowly uncovered their ears.

“Alright.” Flowey shook out his petals. “So first, you want to black out your eyes. I think you can, you’re not a human after all.” Chara nodded. They had done this multiple times with Sans. They blacked out their eyes, leaving everything a duller version of their colors. “Then, you want to look at a person. Decide in your head who you want to judge. Use Frisk as an example.”

“Whoa.” Chara looked at Frisk, who they suddenly saw in black and white. Their stats were written in a golden color.

 

FRISK

LV 1 20/20 HP

 

“That’s cool!” Chara said, blinking their eyes to get out of it.

“You can use that on anyone.” Flowey said. Chara did the same to see Flowey’s.

 

FLOWEY  
LV ??? ??/?? HP

 

“Yeah, my levels are weird because I don’t have a soul.” Flowey muttered.

“Alright. Let’s go find Paul and try it out on him.” Chara stood up and picked up Frisk.

“Wait! That might be dangerous.” Flowey said. “You need a legitimate excuse to see him.”

“You’re right. What if we went to tell Sans?”

“You’d have to ask Toriel to take you.” Flowey pointed out.

“Not neccesarily.” Chara said. “I could teleport.”

“You still need to let her kow where you’re going.” Flowey said.

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Chara retorted.

“That’s a horrible idea.” Flowey warned. “Look, Sans is in jail, Frisk is being discriminated against because Linda won’t even let them try out for background dancers. Plus some other stuff.” Flowey looked away. “She doesn’t need to stress out over you just disappearing.”

“Okay, what ‘other’ stuff?” Chara asked.

“She’ll tell you when she’s ready.” Flowey retorted. “I’m not sure myself.”

“But what do you think it is?” Chara pressed. “I’m just gonna ask Mom myself if you won’t tell me.”

“No! Don’t do that!” Flowey sat up.

“I’m going.” Chara stood up and walked upstairs. “Hey mom?”

“Yes, my child?” Toriel asked.

“Do you mind if I go visit Sans?” Chara asked.

“Go ahead. Would you like me to take you?”

“No, I can teleport. You’re stressed out, you need to rest.” Chara noticed that she was a bit different.

**_Is my mom pregnant?_ **

“Alright, thank you, my child. I’m going to lay down. Just let me know if you need anything.” Toriel said, laying down on the bed.

“Okay, Mom.” Chara said, closing the door behind them.

“Okay, I got permission from mom to go.” Chara said. “Frisk’s in charge.”

“Wait, you’re going alone?” Flowey asked.

“Yep.” Chara said, teleporting away.

* * *

 

“Hello, may I see Sans Dreemurr?” Chara asked.

“Sure, kid.” The guard shrugged and went to go get Sans as Chara went into the room.

“Heya, kiddo.” Sans greeted them. “What’cha need?”  
“I wanted to ask you about Paul. Do you know anything else about him?”

“Yes I do.” Sans frowned.

“Like high LV or something?”

“Actually, yes.” Sans said. “he’s at LV 5.”

“That’s what I thought. I think he killed his wife.”

“You too?” Sans blinked. “I just started wondering that myself.”

“How are we going to bring this up in court?” Chara asked.

“I think we can ask Chad and Shannon to look up his cases. I mean, if both him and Alice’s mother went missing, he might have been arrested for it.” Sans suggested.

“That’s a good idea.” Chara said. “I can call them and ask.”

“They’re supposed to come talk with me sometime today. I can ask then.” Sans shrugged.

“Alright.” Chara said.

* * *

 

Somewhere, back in the deep, dark abyss, he laid. Eyes closed, repenting his sins.

The process of putting his body back was almost ready. Then, he could procede.

He knew what was going to happen. _That_ would fail, and they would both be gone.

But not if he had anything to do with it.

He owned him that much, after all. He knew that it was too weak to live long. It would take much of the power, and then it would kill the owner of that power as well.

He could help repay through it.

But, he knew that it would be a while. So he prepared.

He called out in a strange tongue, feeling the creature murmur back. A smile was brought to his face.

_I can’t wait to see her._


	30. Trials and Tribulations part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans' trial continues!

Chapter 31

 

Sans shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Or rather, the spare one he kept in Snowdin.

**_It was a huge risk, teleporting out to get it. But hey, I’m glad to have it._ **

Chad and Shannon sat in front of him, Alice alongside them, as Chad fingered through Paul’s file.

“This is all new information.” Chad commented. “It’ll certainly help us in the trial.”

“Anything about Alice’s mother?” Sans asked.

“Nothing yet.” Chad replied.

“Wait, what about my mum?” Alice frowned.

“Well, um…” Chad looked at Sans for help.

“We think that your mother died. She was killed by Paul.” Sans explained.

“No. He could never.” Alice said simply. “He may have hurt me, but he could never hurt Mum.”

“Alice. Think about it. What did he always say about you?” Sans asked.

“He said that I reminded him of Mum.” Alice said, frowning.

“Yep.” Sans nodded. Alice was silent, thinking.

“Well, the trial’s going to start soon.” Alice smoothed down her dress.

“You’re going to be testifying today.” Sans warned her.

“I’m prepared for that.” Alice said simply.

“Where’s Chara? They’re testifying today too.” Chad asked.

“They’re coming. I told them to tell Tori to stay home. Both her and Frisk don’t need the extra stress, but it’s unavoidable with Chara.” Sans explained.

“I’m here! I’m here!” Chara popped up out of nowhere.

“Where did you come from?” Chad blinked in surprise.

“I took a shortcut.” Chara explained.

“Alright. So, first we need to go over quickly what you two are testifying about.” Shannon said, sitting up. “Chara, you’re testifying about Alice and her father.”

“Alright.” Chara said. “Anything else?”

“You’re also talking about how Alice came to your house and why she did. Alice, you’re testifying first about your father and the bugs.” Chad said. “Also, take this, Chara.”

“What is it?” Chara asked.

“A file on Paul’s previous crimes.” Chad explained. “I didn’t have time to look through the entire thing.”

“Got it.” Chara nodded.

“Okay.” Alice nodded.

“I’m going to testify about why I pulled a blaster on Paul.” Sans added.

“And Asgore is going to testify about when Alice came to his house.” Shannon finished.

“Alright.” Alice nodded.

“Don’t worry, we’re going to get your dad in the bag today.” Sans promised.

“I’m not worried.” Alice sighed. She still seemed sad, however.

* * *

 

“May the court come back into session for the trial of Sans Dreemurr.” The judge announced. “Last time, we uncovered many facts. I’m sure you all recall that Paul was accused of abuse, breaking and entering, and placing a bug on the accused’s telephone. I say that we cut to the chase and hear our first testimony.”

“I agree.” Paul’s lawyer said, as Sans nodded.

“Miss Alice, please come up to the stand.” The judge announced. Alice sat stiffly in the chair as Paul glared daggers at her.

**_Sheesh, if looks could kill…_ **

“What do you have to testify about?” The judge asked.

“I want to testify about two things. For one, what Paul has done to me, and for two, the bug.” Alice said.

“Speaking of the bug, we tested it. It does indeed have Paul’s fingerprints on it.” The judge announced as Paul muttered to himself.

“Alright. So first, I want to tell my story.” Alice cleared her throat. “It all started when I was a small child back in Britain. I was about five. I was in love with science, and my mum would often put me in science camps and stuff. I couldn’t remember what they were arguing about before, but now I remember. They used to argue all the time about money. I knew when they were going to argue because Mum would send me out of the room. One day, Mum sent me to bed early, and I could hear them yelling at each other. All of a sudden, it went completely silent. I fell asleep, but when I woke up the next day, no one else was in the house.”

“I lived in the house for a month, and then I lived on the streets for a year. After that, Dad came back. He grabbed me and we ran to America.” Everyone was silent as Alice told the rest of her story.

“...and here we are now.” Alice finished.

“Your honor, she’s lying!” Paul’s lawyer retorted.

“Why would I lie?” Alice asked. “Why would I lie about such a traumatic experience? For attention? Because ask anyone who knows me well, like Chara or Sans or even just anyone at school, and they could tell you I hate attention.”

“It’s true.” Sans spoke up. “Alice is shy and tries to downplay stuff so that you don’t worry about her. She doesn’t want attention.”

“Alright, in that case, what else?” Paul rolled his eyes. “Do you have proof that her claim is true? Because if you don’t, that means nothing,”

“We have several things. For one, Alice’s scar on her back.” Alice stood up and pulled her dress down and out of the way to show the bloody scar. It was a disturbing sight, and it seemed as if it was only a couple days old, and yet, it was also infected.

“Alice! Why didn’t you tell us it was infected?”

“I didn’t want to worry you guys! You’re already doing so much to help me...it doesn’t hurt that much, I promise…” Alice said. Sans looked at the judge in an ‘I told you so’ look.

“We need to bring you medical attention.” The judge said. “Baillif, take miss Alice to the hospital.”

“I’ll come by later and tell you how the case went.” Chara promised as Alice left.

“Since Alice can no longer testify, I will call up he next witness. Mr. Asgore Dreemurr, please come up to the stand.”

Sans had to admit, it was a funny sight seeing the former king of all monsters sitting in a tiny chair.

“Mr. Dreemurr-”

“Please, call me Asgore.” Asgore said.

“Asgore, then. Please testify as to what happened with you and Alice.”

“Well, I have a small little cottage on the outskirts of town. You’ve probably driven past it at some point.”

“Is it the one with all the hedges and flowers?” The judge asked.

“Yes, it is.” Asgore nodded.

“That is quite the pretty cottage. You really have a talent with flowers.”

“Thank you.” Asgore smiled.

“Can we get back to the testimony?’ Paul’s lawyer groaned.

“Alright.” Asgore sighed. “Well, last Thursday, at about 2 in the morning, I awoke to someone knocking on my door like their life depended on it. I ran downstairs and opened it, to find Alice. She was obviously scared of something, you could see it in her eyes. She had on pink, bloodstained pajamas and Sans’ jacket over it. She was holding a Burnt pan with a bit of blood on it. As soon as I opened the door, she ran in, and I shut the door. She was breathing heavily, like she was having a panic attack. I asked her if she was alright, but then she looked at me and blacked out. I carried her into the guest room and shut the door. I checked up on her for the next few hours, every few hours, but she didn’t wake up until Friday evening.”

“If we had Alice here, we could theoretically ask her what she was running from.” Paul’s lawyer said. “But since we can’t, this testimony does nothing.”

“On the contrary, it does quite a bit.” Sans retorted. “It gives us a time period for where Alice was. She was at Asgore’s house from Thursday at 2 until Wednesday at noon. It also gives us something to rely on. Whatever she hit with that pan, she hit it hard enough to draw blood. She was probably running from someone. Maybe it could be, I don’t know, someone who was hurting her?” Sans looked straight at Paul.

“Hold up. You do not have proof of abuse. You can’t point fingers at my client.” Paul’s lawyer retorted.

“All I’m saying is, it’s a possiblility. Hey Paul, did you suffer from any hits to the head last Wednesday?” Paul grumbled his answer. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“Yes, I did.” Paul growled. “And yes, Alice did hit me with the pan.”

“There you go.” Sans crossed his arms.

“Alright.” The judge said. “Thank you for your testimony, Asgore.”

“No problem.” Asgore smiled as he stood up and went into the audience.

“Alright, I will now call up the next witness. Chara Dreemurr, please come up to the stand.” The judge announced as Chara went to sit in the chair. They reclined in the chair and crossed their legs, smirking.

“Chara, what do you have to say?” Paul’s lawyer asked.

“Simply that Paul is a scumbag.” Chara said. “Firstly, I witnessed during the break yesterday that Paul was emotionally tormenting Alice, and saying that he was only doing this because he was her father, and that family stays with each other no matter what. Secondly,” Chara looked through the file. “I have here a file on Paul. You see, Paul is an immigrant. He came from Britain.”

“He did?” The judge asked.

“Yes. He was in prison for a year before escaping and running away to America with Alice. Do you know why he was in prison?” Chara pulled out the case file they needed. “This shows everything.”

“Let me see that.” Paul’s lawyer grabbed the file. “Hmmm….he was accused of voluntary manslaughter and was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter of his late wife.”

The court burst into chatter.

“He wants to have everyone believe that it was involuntary.” Chara said simply. “But you see, that is simply not the case. There are several things proving that wrong. For one, Alice just said that they were arguing about money, because Alice loved science and her mom enrolled her in camps. Paul hates that Alice loves science.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Paul retorted.

“I’m not done, _pal_. Sit down.” Chara said coldly. “Secondly, Alice said that they were arguing and it suddenly went silent. Then, when she woke up, no one was in the house. Name one reason that both Paul and Alice’s mother would just leave their five year old girl alone in the house for a year other than someone finding Paul trying to hide her body.”

“Meredith.”

Chara stiffened at the name. “Her name was Meredith.” Paul said.

“W-well, Meredith’s body, then.” Chara corrected themselves. “And thirdly, Paul always says that Alice reminds him of Merdith, who he killed. And what else? He abuses Alice. Who abuses, or is unkind to anyone who reminds you of someone you loved?”

“You still haven’t proved that.” Paul retorted.

“Actually, they have.” The judge piped up. “Alice’s story had proof in both her infected scar and her attitude about it in not mentioning it to avoid attention. Right now, you have a charge of child abuse.” Paul gritted his teeth and started grabbing at his face nervously.

“Your Honor? May I speak up?” Sans asked.

“Yes, you may.” The judge said as Chara stood up and let Sans take their spot.

“I have several things to say, considering my charges. Firstly, what Alice said about us taking her in for a day, is true.” Sans said. “We suspected that Paul was abusing her, and when we asked her about it, she ran off and eventually made it to Asgore’s. The day after she ran, I was home by myself with Flowey.” Paul started pulling at his sleeves.

**_What’s going on with him?_ **

“Flowey?” The judge asked.

“Our sentient houseplant. Please don’t ask, your honor.” Sans sighed. “Well, where was I? We were home by ourselves, and suddenly, Flowey heard this banging on the door. I went over and changed his gravity to face downwards so that I wouldn’t get hurt. After all, I don’t have much HP.” Sans chuckled nervously. “I opened the door, and Paul was there. He demanded that I give him Alice, and he knew that she was at the house the previous night. We chatted for a while and I wound up pulling a Blaster on him in self-defense.”  
“A blaster?”  The judge asked. Sans summoned one.

“This is a Gaster Blaster. They were named after their creator, W.D Gaster. Nothing is known about him, and for some reason, I’m the only one who remembers him.” Sans explained. He put away the Blaster. “I was his assistant, after all.”

“Alright, continue, Mr. Dreemurr.”

“When I pulled the Blaster, he took a picture of it. When I confonted him about the child abuse, he admitted to it, but blackmailed me. If I told on him with the child abuse, he would send the picture of me with the blaster to the police and I would get arrested and put in prison. I have a wife and two kids, I couldn’t let them be by themselves.” Sans explained. “Unlike _someone,_ I care about my family. So I reluctantly agreed.”

“So, what you’re saying, is that your motive for assault with a deadly weapon and holding Mr. Scott hostage, is self defense because he was trying to break into your home?” Paul looked around the room nervously, with wide eyes.

“Yes.” Sans confirmed. “Now, I believe Alice mentioned the bug earlier. She had to leave before she could testify about it, however.”

“Yes...Balliff, if you could collect Alice’s testimony about that.” The balliff nodded and left.

“Well, the bug was found in the house telephone, which I used to call those two CPS agents. Paul broke through a window in the guestroom of the house, placed the bug, and then left.” Sans said simply. “So, I will press several charges. First, blackmail. Secondly, breaking and entering. Thirdly, child abuse. And lastly, murder in the first degree of one Meredith Scott.” Sans announced. The court burst into chatter as Paul looked pale. He put his head down on the desk and ruffled his fingers through his hair.

“Mr. Scott? What do you have to say?” The judge asked. Paul paused for a second. “Mr. Scott?”


	31. Trials and Tribulations- end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans' trial comes to an end, several things are confirmed, and Chara finds out the results of their audition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I may have made an error in how many chapters I had written.
> 
> I thought I had more, but this is the last chapter I had written in advance.  
> I'm really sorry, but the next update won't be coming until Sunday as usual. I promise next time I do something like this, I'll make sure I have the right amount of chapters.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy~

Chapter 33

 

“...I confess.” Scott said, his voice muffled by the desk.

“Huh?” Sans asked.

“Heh...you’re a smart ass, aren’t you?” Paul laughed nervously, looking up at the skeleton with a terrible look in his eyes. “Smart skeleton. Smarter than I thought.” Chara swore they saw Paul’s mouth twitch.

“But d-don’t get me wrong.” Paul chuckled. “I’ll get you. I’ll get you and your piece of shit family.” He burst out laughing, a crazed, insane laugh. “I’ll get you! And when I do, you’re go-gonna be a pile of dust under my feet!” He slammed the table, causing Chara to flinch and several children in the audience to dig their heads into their mother’s shoulders. “And your precious family is going to be the last sight you see! I-I’m gonna get your wife, and l-let you watch as I stab her, over and over, and over, letting you hear her screams of pain, until she falls to you and you can watch her turn to dust in your arms!” Paul laughed like a maniac. “And then th-that daughter of your’s is going to suffer too! I’m g-going to stab her in the stomach! So that you can watch her squirm in pain until she slowly, painfully, bleeds to death.” Paul turned to Chara, a twitch in his eyes. Chara was honestly scared shitless.

**_But I’m not gonna let him see that._ **

“And then you! You’re the final nail in the coffin. I’m gonna have  _ fun _ killing you, watching you scream in pain until the light leaves your eyes. And then finally, I’m gonna turn to you. Sans.” Paul turned to Sans, fully insane. “I’m gonna leave you  _ begging  _  for death. And then. finally, I’ll dust you. I can’t wait to feel how it feels to kill a skeleton.” Paul started laughing, a horrible, soulless laugh.

“Balliff! Take him away!” The judge ordered. It took several balliffs and five minutes to drag him away.

“I guess we’ll have a separate trial for him. Although I believe it’ll be a quick one.” The judge said. “However, I must cast a sentence in this trial. In the case of Sans Dreemurr, I pronounce you, Not Guilty. Court is adjourned!” The judge announced.

* * *

 

“Well kid, we’re out of the woods now.” Sans smiled to Chara.

“That we are.” Chara agreed. “How about we go home and pick up Mom, and then we go visit Alice and tell her how the case went?”

“I think Tori’s still in school right now.” Sans said. “But we can go visit Alice.”

“Awesome.” Chara said. “Hey, um, I have a question.”

“Shoot.” Sans said.

“Is Mom...pregnant?” They muttered the last part out of embarrassment.

“I think she is. She hasn’t told me yet, but I think she is.”

“How does that work with monsters?” Chara blurted out. Sans blinked at them.

“Well, the hospital isn’t far. We can walk, and I can explain it to you.” Sans said.

“Alright.” Chara nodded, embarrassed. They were greeted by Chad and Shannon.

“Hey, congrats!” Chad smiled.

“Thanks, Chad.” Sans replied. “Thank you so much for the evidence and for watching Alice.”

“Oh, it’s no problem.” Chad smiled. 

“No, I’m serious. This whole situation would have a different outcome without that evidence.” Sans said.

“We know. You’re welcome.” Shannon smiled at Sans.

“Now, I believe Tori wanted to file for custody of Alice. Do you have the papers? I want to surprise her.”

“Right here.” Chad gave him the papers. “There’s also an official adoption statement.”

“Awesome. I’ll take these to the hospital, we need to visit Alice.” Sans explained.

“Alright, well, I won’t stop you.” Chad stepped away. “Congrats again.”

“Thank you.” Sans smiled as him and Chara left.

“Alright, so back to what we were talking about.” Chara said, sighing.

“Okay. So how it works is that we need a couple of requirements first. One, the two monsters need to have a bond, like being married. For monsters, marriage is basically a promise to bond your souls. That’s why they say you shouldn’t marry someone you don’t get along with, and why the monsters that have a license to marry monsters cannot do it when one or both of the two monsters are drunk or somewhat under the influence.” Sans explained. “This prevents stuff like one night stands.”

“Okay?” Chara frowned.

“Do..do you not know what a one night stand is?” Sans asked. Chara shook their head.

**_Oh boy._ **

“Well, anyways, When two monsters want a kid, we basically just mix our souls. It has a very high chance of pregnancy, which is why you can’t do it without being married. The souls that mixed become a new soul without a body. It has to take time to create enough magic to have a physical form, which is what pregnancy is. It takes three months before the baby has enough magic to exist on its own.”

“Okay.” Chara nodded. “That’s a lot different from humans.”

“Yeah.” Sans said.

**_We also don’t have the same body parts as humans, which is why this works better for monsters._ **

“Um, how does the baby come out?’ Chara asked.

“Come out?” Sans frowned.

“You know, like in humans…” Chara let the sentence drop.

“Oh!” Sans laughed. “The parent who is carrying the child’s soul comes out, like how it does in battle, except the soul splits in two. The second soul comes out, and then forms the body of the child.”

“Ah. Wait, the parent who is carrying it?”

“The baby is formed through souls.” Sans explained. “So any monster of any gender can have and carry a child, although it is generally the female monster who carries it. In a case of two male monsters or female monsters, it’s the bigger one who carries it.”

“The bigger one?”

“Bigger monsters and female monsters usually have more powerful magic.” Sans explained. “The baby does take some of the parent’s magic to create it’s own. It’s easier on the parent if they have more powerful magic.”

“Oh.” Chara said. “Thank you for explaining.”

“No problem. Oh look, we’re almost here.” Sans stopped in front of the hospital, and then went in. “hello, we’d like to visit Alice Scott. She was just admitted due to an infected wound.”

“Alright, come this way.” The nurse smiled as she led the two to where Alice was. Alice was sitting up in bed, reading.

“Hey, Alice!” Chara smiled.

“Oh, hi Chara and Sans!” Alice smiled. “I’m guessing the trial went well?”

“Yep! We got Paul in jail!” Chara cheered.

“Yay!” Alice reached up to cheer, but grimaced in pain.

“Hey, you need to rest.” Chara warned her.

“I know. I didn’t think it was this bad.” Alice frowned.

“I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to help you with the scar. I mean, it looks like your shirt was covered in blood. The back of it, at least.” Sans said.

“My hair was covering it.” Alice replied.

“Oh.” Sans sat down. “Listen, I wanted to ask you. Are you okay if we were to take you in?”

“Take me in? Like adopt me?” Alice asked.

“Yes. Tori really wanted to get custody of you, but I wanted to ask you if you wanted to first.” Sans answered.

“Oh. Well, of course I do!” Alice smiled. “You’re a much better dad than Paul ever was, and I see Toriel as a Mum as well.”

“Great! I’ve got the paperwork right here.” Sans smiled as he took it out.

**_Wow, a baby, and a middleschooler, as well as another middle schooler and a demon. Sure sounds like a full house is in the future for the Dreemurr family._ **

“You should probably text Mom.” Chara said.

“Oh! Right.” Sans got out his phone and texted Toriel. He immediately got a text back.

“Tori, no.” He muttered as he texted back. He then got a text back, sighed, and put the phone away. “She’s leaving school to come here.”

“She’s leaving?” Chara raised an eyebrow. “A bunch of middle schoolers are in her classes, and she’s leaving?”

“Apparently.” Sans shrugged. Suddenly, Toriel burst through the door.

“Sans!” She hugged the skeleton tightly.

“Agh! Tori! You’re suffocating me…” Sans coughed out as Toriel put him down, and then hugged him a little less hard.

“I was so worried about you!” Toriel kissed the top of his head. Chara noticed that she was crying a bit from happiness.

“Well, I’ve got another suprise for you. Tada!” Sans pulled out the papers. “The papers to adopt Alice!”

“How did you get those?” Toriel gasped.

“Chad had them.” Sans smiled. Toriel grabbed him again in a tight hug.

“Well, I have some other news.” Toriel smiled. “It looks like we’re going to have four kids in the house.”

“Do you mean..?” Sans asked.

“Yes! I’m pregnant!” Toriel announced.

“Yay! Congrats!” Alice smiled as Chara cheered.

**_...Yep, definietly a full house coming right up._ **

* * *

 

Chara sighed as they walked into school the next day. Alice was still in the hospital, unfortunately, so they walked in with just Frisk.

“Wow, so much has changed since yesterday, Frisk.” Chara commented. “Yesterday, we were facing Sans being put in jail. Now, we have Alice in our family and another kid on the way.”

Frisk nodded.

_ I can’t believe Mom’s having a kid. _

“Hey Chara!” Kaya ran up to them, smiling. “Congrats on your part!”

“Wait, what?” Chara frowned.

“You haven’t seen what you got in your audition?” Kaya frowned. “You have to!”   
“What did I get?” Chara asked. Kaya grabbed their wrist and led them to the drama room. Kaya pointed to the top of the list.

 

JOEY- Alexander Walkins

CAT IN THE HAT- Chara Dreemurr

 

_ Nice job, Chara! _ Frisk clapped.

“Thanks, Frisk.” Chara smiled. “Alex got Joey?”

“Yes, I did.” Alex popped up from behind them.

“Ah! you startled me.” Chara jumped. 

“Oh, sorry.” Alex frowned. 

“Congrats on getting Joey!” Chara said.

“Oh, thanks. I, um, don’t really deserve the part. I think it’s only because Mom was one of the judges.” Alex confessed. “You know what else I’m upset about?”

“What is it?” Chara asked.

“Just look at the list.” Alex said. Confused, Chara looked at the list. Suddenly, it hit them like a brick.

“Out of all of the main leads, none of them are monsters.” Chara realized. “Except for me, Linda was picking favorites!”


	32. Science Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Frisk go back to school, and Science Fair begins!

Chapter 34

 

“I know. I don’t like it. A lot of the monsters did better than the humans, too.” Alex explained. “And to make it even worse, all of the kids come from the better off families.”

“What?” Chara asked in shock.

“You’re the only kid who has a lead that has monster parents. Everyone else is from, like, I don’t know.” Alex thought for a second. “Um…let me think of an example. You know Stella from the PTA meetings, right?” Chara nodded. “One of her older sisters auditioned. She didn’t get in, even though her audition was up there with yours.”

“Really?” Chara frowned.  **_Was my audition really that good?_ **

“I remember hearing mom talk about her with David. I think she said something about it being ‘bad for the reputation of the PTA’ if they put her in a lead role.”

“That’s stupid.” Chara retorted. “Why would it be bad for the PTA?”

“I heard David whisper back that he agreed, and that they didn’t need someone from her family in the musical.”

“What?” Chara looked at Alex. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not. I wouldn’t joke about something like this.” Alex’s eyes darkened. “I don’t know what he would mean by that, but…”

“No offense, but I hate your mom.” Chara said. “David too, but mostly your mom.”

“None taken. I don’t like her very much either.” Alex deadpanned. “So, how did the trial go? Mom told me about it.”

“Oh, Dunkle Sans got completely off the hook, and Paul is going to prison.” Chara said, smiling.

“Congrats!” Alex smiled back. “You know, I never thought that he was like that, you know.”

“You mean abusive?” Chara asked.

“Yeah, that.” Alex nodded.

“I don’t think anyone did. He hid it very well.” Chara sighed.

_ Well, Alice is out of it now. _ Frisk pointed out.

“That’s true.” Chara nodded.

“What did they say?” Alex asked. Chara translated.

“Oh.” Alex said. “Yeah, that is true.”

“You know, I could probably teach you sign language.” Chara offered. “That is, Frisk and I can.”

“Oh, that would be awesome! Thank you.” Alex accepted.

Suddenly, the bell rang.

“We’ve got to get to class. I’ll see you at lunch?” Chara offered.

“Sounds good.” Alex nodded. “See you then.”

“Let’s go, Frisk.” Chara said, grabbing their hand and leading them off to class. Out of the corner of their eye, they spotted something.

**_Huh?_ ** They paused, looking back. But there was nothing there.

_ What is it, Chara? _ Frisk signed.

“Nothing, I guess? I thought I saw something.” Chara replied. “We should go.” They both walked to Science.

“Congrats on your part, Chara!” Makayla called out as son as she saw Chara.

“Thank you!” Chara smiled. They noticed that Ashley scoffed and looked away.

**_Heh, she got Joey’s mom. That’s not_ ** **that** **_important a part. Loser!_ **

“Alright children, let’s get into class.” Gloria came and opened the door to let the kids in. “I know you’re all excited about the upcoming play, but let’s focus on science.”

“Okay, Mrs. Castro.” Everyone said in unison as they piled into the classroom.

“Alright, so today, we are going to learn about ecosystems.” Gloria announced.

**_Alright, more stuff that I already know._ **

“So…” Gloria continued on as Chara slumped in their chair.

“...and that’s that! We will have a test on this in two weeks.” Gloria finished. “Okay, so here’s a worksheet on ecosystems to turn in for homework, feel free to ask me or anyone else if you need help.” She handed out enough worksheets for each table as she walked around, and then sat down.

“Alright, do you need help, Frisk?” Chara asked. Frisk shook their head. “Alright, just let me know.” The room had a fair amount of chatter, as well as the sound of Frisk tapping the desk.

“Heyyyy, Chara!” Ashley walked up to them, a fake smile on her face. “Could you help me with this?”

“Sure.” Chara faked a smile back. “Okay, so what do you need help with?”

“Just, like, how to stack the organisms.” Ashley said.

“Alright, so the plants go on the bottom, and the animals that feed on the grass go over that.” Chara said.

“Lke this?” Ashley stacked the animals that fed on the plants over the plants.

“Yep. The animals that feed on those animals go over them.” Chara continued as they noticed someone go behind them. Chara reached back and grabbed Tommy’s arm.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” Chara asked.

“Um, I, um, Ashley put me up to it!” Tommy dropped the bag that he had. Ashley smacked him in the arm. “Chara frowned as they realized what it was.

**_Why does Ashley have something like this?_ **

“Mrs. Castro?” Chara raised their hand. “Ashley has a bag of something.” Gloria stood up and walked over.

“Give it here, please.” Gloria asked Ashley, who reluctantly handed over the bag.

“Why do you have- come here.” Gloria sighed, grabbing Ashley’s arm. “You too, Tommy and Chara.” Gloria led them to the hallway outside.

“Ashley, how did you get this?” Gloria demanded.

“I found it!” Ashley retorted. 

“I was with her. We just found it on the ground.” Tommy confirmed.

“Alright then. Why were you going to put it in Chara’s bag, then?” Gloria asked Ashley, who was quiet. “Ashley. Why were you going to put a bag of marijuana in Chara’s backpack?”

“I wanted revenge, okay? Chara got the lead role.” Ashley retorted.

“That’s not a good reason to try to get them expelled, Ashley.” Gloria glared at her. “We’re going to the office.”

“Wait, Mrs. Castro.” Chara said. “Smell the bag.” Gloria looked at them weird, but did so anyways. She then burst out laughing.

“Oh my god. It’s not even marijuana. It’s oregano.” Gloria laughed. “Alright, that gave me a good laugh. Ashley, you have detention with me after school everyday next week and today. Tommy, you just have it today.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tommy nodded.

“All three of you, get back to class.” Gloria said, ushering them back in.

“Well, that was fun.” Chara told Frisk as they sat back down. They frowned and asked what happened.

_ Well, Ashley tried to slip some drugs into my bag that would have gotten me in trouble, but it wasn’t even drugs, it was just some oregano. _ Chara signed. Frisk frowned.

_ Why would she do that?  _ They asked. Chara shrugged.

_ I don’t know. _ They signed back, and then went back to their work.

* * *

 

Chara sat in dance, watching the other dancers.

**_Oh yeah, the show’s coming up, isn’t it?_ **

“My little darlings, that was amazing!” Mettaton clapped after the number went. “Alright, next up, let’s do our part of the finale.”

The dancers stood on either side of the room as the people doing tricks stood a bit closer. It started out with one of the TAs doing some turns and jumping out of it, then several of the dancers doing back handsprings and stuff, and then the couples came out, Chara included with them. They did some clapping, and then they circled around their partner, keeping one hand on their shoulders, and then jumped up into their arms as they spun around. They then were put down, and ran off the stage as the advanced dancers would come onstage. The beginners ran onstage after they would get off, and they danced around a little and hopped before running off. The hip-hop club would then come on and do their dance, and then they ran off as the beginners ran on to take their bows. They then stepped back, clapping as intermediate and advanced came on, and then the hip-hop team.

The seniors then came onstage and bowed, and then everyone bowed one last time.

“Alright, amazing job, my darlings!” Mettaton clapped. “Alright, I’m gonna let you guys go to change. Clap it up!” Everyone clapped as they left class.

“Hey Chara, what happened to Alice?” Kaya asked.

“Yeah! She just disappeared!” Another girl added.

“She’s in the hospital.” Chara explained as they went into the locker room and headed to their locker.

“What? What happened to her?” Makayla asked.

“It’s a long story, but basically, she can’t live with her dad anymore, so she’s living with my family.” Chara explained as they took off their dance shorts to put in their locker. They quickly slipped off their leotard and tights, and then changed into their normal leggings and long sleeved shirt.

“Hey, I thought I saw something on your arms.”  Kaya said.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Chara waved her off. “It’s just from some bad memories.”

“Oh. Well, if you want to talk about it, I’m here.” Kaya offered, smiling.

“Thank you, but it’s in the past. It...doesn’t bother me  _ that  _ much.” Chara assured her.

“Alright.” Kaya nodded and thankfully turned away.

**_I_ ** **really** **_don’t even want to think about Meredith. It was bad enough after the trial._ ** Chara grabbed their backpack and the poster and left the locker room.

* * *

 

“Alright, I’ve got the poster for the science fair.” Chara said, meeting up with Alex and Frisk in the gym.

“Awesome! I’ve got a table claimed.” Alex said as Frisk nodded. All three of them walked to the table and set up their project, grabbing some cookies from a food table nearby.

“It’s right next to your brother’s.” Chara noted, blinking in surprise.

“I know.” Alex gave Chara a knowing smile. Jimmy’s science fair project had been worked on with Ashley and Anna, and it was just a baking soda volcano.

“Alright, we’re here to eat cookies and kick ass, and I just ate my cookies.” Chara fist bumped Alex and Frisk. “Let’s do this.”


	33. Continuations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Science fair continues, and Sans learns a bit more about one of the PTA.

Chapter 35

"Hey kiddos." Sans walked up to the stand.

"Hey Sans." Chara greeted him.

"So, I guess there are a couple of parents unaffilated with the PTA who are judging." Sans let them know. "They're walking around now."

"Alright, thanks, Dunkle Sans." Chara smiled.

"Also, I would not leave your project alone. I thought I overheard some kids saying they were gonna try to destroy your project." Sans warned.

"What did they look like?" Alex asked, looking up.

"I think it was your brother and one of the girls from the PTA." Sans said.

"That's what I thought. Thanks, Mr. Dreemurr." Alex nodded and returned to checking to make sure everything was still in place.

"Well, I'm gonna walk around." Sans said. "I've got a bone to pick with Linda about that audition." Sans walked off, looking for her. He found her by the entrance to the gym, talking with a lady who had a six year old boy with her.

"Heya, Linda." Sans walked up greeting her.

"Hello, Sans." Linda glared at him.

"Heh, sorry for interupting." Sans said.

**_Why does this lady have such a huge problem with my family?_ **

"This is Carol. She's joining the PTA to replace Paul." Linda introduced the two. "Carol, this is Sans."

"It's nice to meet ya." Sans said, holding out his hand. As Carol took it, the woopie cushion in his hand went off, making a farting noise. Carol laughed.

**_Glad to see_ someone _likes my jokes._**

Linda frowned.

"Well, anyways, I needed to ask you something, Linda." Sans said to her.

"Can it wait until we're done here?" Linda asked. "Whatever you have to say isn't as important as this."

"Actually, go ahead and talk to him." Carol interjected. "I need to check on my kids."

"Alright." Linda blinked in surprise. "What do you want?" She asked as Carol walked off.

"I wanted to ask how Frisk and Chara's auditions went." Sans said simply.

"Why?" Linda demanded.

"I'm their dunkle. I want to know." Sans shrugged.

"Frisk didn't audition. Chara did really well." Linda sighed. "Chara has the lead."

"That's great for Chara. But Frisk did audition." Sans pushed.

"No, she didn't." Linda retorted. "She wasn't able to."

"There was no reason that they weren't able to. You wouldn't let them." Sans growled.

"She can't speak. There's no point in your daughter auditioning for a musical if they can't talk." Linda pointed out.

"First off, call them by the right pronouns. You use gender neutral pronouns if you don't know the person's gender. Why not do that if they want you to?" Sans said. "Secondly, they could have just done a dance or something, and just performed without singing or mouthed the words. There's no reason to smack down a child's dream to be in a show just because of a disability."

"Well, I'm sorry, but the rule is, if they can't sing, they can't be in the show. You might also want to keep in mind that Chara has the lead role."

"Don't you dare try to blackmail me." Sans snapped.

"I'm not. I'm just pointing out that it's a very difficult role. Be glad that I gave one of your children a role." Linda snapped. "I almost didn't."

"So you were playing favorites the entire time?" Sans asked.

"It's not playing favorites. It's knowing which kids are good actors." Linda corrected him.

"It's not a professional play! It's a school play with a bunch of middle schoolers!" Sans retorted.

"Well, you're not the one in charge of the play. If you keep disrespecting me like this, I will have to remove your child from the play." Linda glared him straight in the eyes. "And that's a promise." Sans glared at her right back, his eyes going dark.

"...Alright." Sans said. "Fine. I just have one more question."

"What is it?" Linda snapped.

"When is the bake sale?" Sans asked.

"We're discussing that this week." Linda said simply.

"Alright, thanks." Sans said. "See ya." He left to go back to Chara and Frisk's stand. They had already gotten a small crowd of people to look at their stand, while Sans noticed that Jimmy and Anna were looking at their stand in distain. He stood behind them to listen to their conversation.

"Why are they so popular?" Jimmy asked.

"I don't know." Anna shrugged. "They made up fake numbers and made it interesting."

"Anna, steal their device thing." Jimmy said to her. She nodded, and then left.

"Hey there." Sans said, pretending to walk up to Jimmy.

"Oh, hi Mr. Dreemur!" Jimmy replied.

"So, what's your project on?" Sans asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Oh, it's a baking soda volcano." Jimmy said. "Basically, we have vinegar dyed red in the volcano, and we put this baking soda in, and kaboom!" He poured it in, and the vlcano exploded.

"Cool." Sans nodded his head.

"I want to win, but it seems like making stuff up gets more attention." Jimmy casually threw shade.

"Really now?" Sans asked.

"Yeah. I don't understand how Souls can be different colors and based on different things. It just makes no sense!" Jimmy nodded to the stand next door, which was now empty. Thankfully, Chara was holding the device, and seemed to be explaining their experiment to an older man with a large badge that said 'Science Fair Judge' on it.

"Well, it all has to do with how Determined a person is." Sans shrugged. He let his eyes go dark for a second to see Jimmy's stats.

JIMMY LV1 30/30 HP

**_Well, that sure explains his ego… The more HOPE POINTS a person has, the harder it is to be hurt._ **

"What do you mean by that?" Jimmy asked.

"How much they want to do something." Sans explained. "For example, Frisk and Chara are very Determined. Their Souls are red."

"What color is my Soul?" Jimmy questioned excitedly.

"Both you and your brother have an orange Soul." Sans said.

"What does that mean?" Jimmy cocked his head.

"You're the third most determined type of Soul." Sans told him.

_**I think that Jimmy has some jelousy issues. I mean, I'm paying full attention to him and he seems pretty nice.** _

"Huh. Could you come in and teach a class? It's soo much more interesing learning from you than Mom. Erm, don't tell her I said that." Jimmy frowned.

"We'll see." Sans smiled.

Wow, Linda's classes must be boring.

"Jimmy, I couldn't grab it." Anna walked back up, frowning.

"It's fine." Jimmy assured her.

**_Oh yeah, they were going to take Chara's device._** Sans felt angry.

"So, what are your mom's classes like?" Sans asked.

"One word. Boring." Jimmy rolled his eyes. "She always shows favoritism to the same people and blames the people she doesn't like."

"Well, that's what your mom's like." Sans shrugged.

"She also enforces bad rules. Like, you know Jamal, right?" Jimmy asked.

"Yes?" Sans blinked.

"She always forces him to keep his hands in his lap." Jimmy confessed. "The only reason I'm mentioning it is 'cause she told you she wouldn't and 'cause last time she did it, he wound up having a breakdown." Jimmy leaned foward on his toes with his hands behind his back.

"...Really now?" Sans felt his eyes go dark.

"Yep." Jimmy said. "The only reason she hasn't done it to Frisk is 'cause she knows Chara will tell you."

"Thank you. But, why are you telling me this?" Sans asked.

"'Cause it's not fair. And she always taught me 'Love thy neighbor' but she constantly goes off on Jamal's moms and how it's not natural to love someone of the same gender, and just…" Jimmy put his hand to his chin. "It's confusing. I don't get it."

"Well, your mother is a hypocrite." Sans said. "Don't worry, I'll talk to her."

"Thank you. I don't really like it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've done some bad stuff too." Jimmy said.

"Absolutely." Anna added.

"Oh, shut up." Jimmy elbowed her. "But it's not because of who someone loves. I mean, love is love, isn't it?"

"It certainly is. Being in love with someone of the same gender is how you're born." Sans said. "Just like not associating with the gender you're born with."

"What does that mean?" Jimmy asked as Anna cocked her head.

"It means that you don't feel comfortable with the body you're born with. Like, someone may be physically male, but they don't feel comfortable with being referred to as male. They may want to be referred to as a girl."

"Oh! Like-" Jimmy shut his mouth.

"Like who?" Sans blinked.

"No one." Jimmy looked away.

**_That's odd._ **

"Alright. Well, I'm gonna go off. It looks like the judges are about to come here." Sans said as he walked to Chara's table.

"Hey kiddos." Sans said.

"Hey Sans!" Alex smiled. "The judges seemed impressed with our project." All three of the kid's eyes were shining.

"That's great!" Sans said. "Now we just have to wait for results. Also, I would watch that device if I were you."

"On it." Chara nodded and grabbed it.

"Hello again!" Carol came by the table. She was holding her six year old, who was asleep on her shoulder.

"Oh, hey Carol." Sans greeted her.

"So, are these your kids?" Carol asked.

"Those two are." Sans nodded towards Chara and Frisk.

"Oh! They look familiar." Carol said.

"Well, Chara was involved with a trial just yesterday." Sans explained.

"I was a witness." Chara spoke up.

"Ah, that might explain it." Carol nodded.

"Well, who are your kids?" Sans asked.

"Oh! I have this one," She nodded to the kid on her shoulder. "his name is Timmy. I also have a 9 year old named Emalie, and a 12 year old named Jack."

"Heya, Timmy." Sans smiled to the kid, who yawned and snuggled into Carol's shoulder.

"He's pretty tired. He didn't want to lay down for nap time." Carol explained. "Emalie and Jack are somewhere else. They didn't want to participate, so they're just filling out a bingo card."

"Ah, that makes sense." Sans nodded.

"Achem, I would like to have everyone's attention." The main judge stood on the stage. "We have decided on our winners. Third place overall goes to Hailey Funderlun with her experiment on shark patterns." Hailey excitedly ran up the stairs and stood with her trophy. "Second place goes to Makayla and Kaya for their project on allergies." The two girls climbed up the stairs and held their trophy.

"Obviously, Jimmy is going to win." Sans heard Linda mutter from behind him.

"We'll see about that, Linda." Sans warned.

"Well, he's won the last five years in a row." Linda retorted.

"Well, so would my kids if Tori and I made their project for them." Sans countered.

"Excuse me?" Linda demanded.

"I have several _bones_ to pick with you, Linda. But let's not get into that. Right now, it's time for the kids." Sans turned back to the stage.

"And in first place overall, we have…"


	34. Linda what the fuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Linda what the fuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so a couple of things:
> 
> 1) My ask account, asktheundertalekiddos, is no longer taking asks. There's supposed to be a raid on tumblr at some point, so I closed the ask box.
> 
> 2) I'm hoping to start my youtube account this summer! It's TheArtofSkating1.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter~

Chapter 35

 

“...Chara and Frisk Dreemur, Alice Scott, and Alexander Walkins!” The judge announced as the three went up to grab their trophy. Linda’s jaw was on the floor.

“Heh, aren’t you glad that at least one of your kids won?” Sans shrugged and went to take a picture of the three for Toriel.

“We would just like to give our thanks to Dr. Alphys, who helped us come up with the idea for our project, and who gave us this device to grab our materials. We’re sorry to say that Alice cannot be up here with us.” Alex started.

“But we want you all to know that she helped just as much as the rest of us.” Chara finished. Everyone clapped.

“Congrats, kiddos.” Sans greeted the three as they walked off the stage.

“Thanks, Dunkle Sans!” Chara smiled as Frisk hugged him. 

“Thank you, Sans.” Alex added.

“I’m sure you would love to go visit Alice and tell her about how you guys won.” Sans said. “But I think some people want to give their congrats to you first.”

“Alright.” Chara turned around to see Makayla and Kaya.

‘Hey, congrats!” Kaya said.

“Thank you! You guys too!” Chara replied.

“I’ll be right back.” Sans said. He walked towards the judges, as he thought he saw Linda walk towards them. His suspicions were correct, and he decided to overhear their conversation.

“...I told you, I wanted my  kid to win!” Linda snapped.

“Well, Alexander is your kid, is he not?” The judge retorted. “He would have won no matter what.”

“I told Jimmy he was gonna win!” Linda countered.

“You said your son. Are you saying that you don’t consider Alexander as your son?” THe judge asked. Linda opened her mouth to object, but then shut it.

“You wanted your son to win. You paid me good money. You didn’t specify which one.” The judge shrugged. “Look, if you wanted Jimmy to win, you should have specified it.”

“Hold on one second.” Sans walked in.

“This doesn’t concern you, skeleton.” Linda snapped.

“It does. Alex was working with my kids. Are you saying the only reason they won is because Linda bribed you?” Sans asked.

“No. Alex would have won even if she didn’t.” The judge shook his head. “But she didn’t specify which kid she wanted to win, so we chose the one that would win.”

“That’s not fair! I demand that you give Jimmy the award!” Linda snapped.

“So, you would want to take away an award from not only your son, but two other children, one of whom is autistic, to give your other child an ego boost?” THe judge raised an eyebrow.

“Frisk needs to toughen up. The world isn’t going to cater to her disability.” Linda scoffed.

“Linda.” Sans’ voice went dead cold as his eyes went dark.

“Sans. You and your family needs a wake up call.” Linda retored.

“Not here.” Sans said. “Not in front of the children.”

“Oh, what are you going to do? Lay down on me and fall asleep?” Linda demanded. “You’re too lazy to do much else.”

“Try me.” Sans said, his eyes still dark, and his voice cold.

“Alright.” Linda, without warning, threw a punch at him, Sans quickly dodged.

“Hey there, not in front of the kids.” He held up his hands, shrugging. “But if you want to go, then let’s go.”

Linda yelled in anger and threw another punch, with Sans taking a shortcut to in the audience.

“Alright kids, let’s go to visit Alice.” Sans gathered up the three and left the gym.

_ Don’t we have to pick up our device? _ Frisk signed.

“We can get it tomorrow.” Chara shrugged.

“Actually, Chara, go back in there and get it really fast.” Sans said. “Jimmy  _ was _ planning on taking it. I don’t know if he still is.”

“Alright.” Chara hesitantly returned back into the gym.

* * *

 

Chara went back to their space, to find the device gone.

“Alright, where did the little devil go?” Chara angrily muttered, pretending to look under the table.

**_I know Jimmy has it._ **

“Looking for this?” Chara looked up to see Jimmy looking down at them, holding the device and tossing it up and down, catching it.

“Give that here!” Chara jumped to grab it, but Jimmy held it just above their reach. Chara growled at him.

“Nah. You can’t reach it.” Jimmy laughed. 

“I don’t have time for this.” Chara rolled their eyes. They used their magic to bring the device down to them, and they grabbed it, leaving Jimmy shocked. They walked past.

Or at least, they attempted to. Jimmy grabbed the back of their shirt.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Jimmy growled. “I want you to explain something to me.”

“Let me go.” Chara coldly stated.

“Tell me how you won based off of a fake hypothesis.” Jimmy pulled them back and shoved them to the ground. He sat down on their stomach and held the collar of their shirt.

“It wasn’t fake!” Chara retorted. 

SMACK! Skin slammed against skin as Jimmy punched them in the face.

“Liar!” Jimmy reached back for another punch. Chara noticed something in his eyes, though.

**_Someone’s making him do this. He doen’t want to do this…_ **

Suddenly, they saw something flicker, and for a moment, they swore that it was someone else standing over them.

**_No…_ **

Jimmy punched them harder, and a much more horrifying person popped up as she brought her fist back. They were back in the apartment of their youth, and the evil lady sitting over them laughed as they slammed their fist over their head.

**_M-meredith…!_ **

It flickered back and forth between Jimmy and Meredith, until slowly, it was just Meredith, laughing evilly at the pain inflicted on Chara.

Suddenly, Meredith was roughly pulled off of them.

“Chara!” They heard a male voice yell. Slowly, their old house flickered away to reveal the gym, and that someone was shaking them.

“Chara, are you okay?” The person asked.

“...I…” Chara was able to get out barely that before they blissfully passed out.

* * *

 

Sans hurriedly burst into the room to see Alex holding a beaten up, passed out Chara. He walked towards him, holding the child. It was an odd sight, seeing the tall boy hold such a tiny person.

“Sans, Jimmy beat them up.” Alex said. Sans felt his eyes go dark.

“Sans, wait. Jimmy wouldn’t have done this without being told to.” Sans looked at Alex, his eyes lighting back up in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“Someone told him to beat up Chara. Jimmy is mostly all bark and no bite.”

“Sounds like someone who is a real  _ bitch _ would tell him to do that.” Sans muttered. “And I know exactly who it is. Alex, get Chara to the hospital. Tell them to room them next to Alice.”

“But isn’t that the girl’s dorm?” Alex frowned.

“Chara’s AFAB. They won’t like it, but they’ll just have to deal with it.” Sans said. “Go!” Alex ran off.

**_I shouldn’t be surprised. He is an athlete, after all._ **

“Linda, I have a real  _ bone _ to pick with you.” Sans walked up to the PTA leader.

“Yes? If this is about my son attacking your daughter, then I will have him apologise.” Linda sniffed. “Jimmy, apologise to the skeleton.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Dreemurr.” Jimmy said. Sans looked at him.

**_I can tell that it’s actually sincere. Which means that Alex was probably right._ **

“Thank you for your apology, Jimmy.” Sans said.

“So there should be no issue.” Linda shrugged.

“Hold up.” Sans closed his eyes and held up a finger. “I noticed you aren’t yelling at Jimmy like when that video of him showed at the PTA meeting.”

“Well, I-” Linda started.

“Is that because, I don’t know, you knew this was gonna happen? Or maybe, you know, you  _ told _ Jimmy to attack Chara?” Sans asked.

“Why would I do that?” Linda retorted.

“Because I can tell that Jimmy didn’t want to do it. Is that right, Jimmy?” Sans looked at the kid, who looked stunned. He quickly nodded, and then catching Linda’s glare, he changed it to a head shake.

“See. He didn’t want to.” Sans shrugged, closing his eyes. “Look, I don’t know  _ what _ problem you have with my family. We have done nothing to you. And what have you done? Tortured  _ my  _ child with ‘Quiet Hands’, had your kid bully both of my children, constantly misgendered them, refused to even let Frisk audition to dance, said that my mentally disabled child had to just ‘deal with it’ in regards to people not giving help to them, and now, you’ve sent your son to beat up Chara. I will  _ not _ take any more of this abuse towards my kids. Feel free to hurt me or Tori as much as you wish. But touch my children one more time, and trust me Linda,  _ you will have a very bad time. _ ” Sans spat, his eyes going dark as he opened them.

“Look, Sans.” Linda spat his name as if it were a curse word. “I am the head of the PTA. You cannot tell me what to do. I am preparing your children for the real world. People are going to want revenge in the real world. And no one is going to give special treatment to those kids who want to be special snowflakes. Your  _ daughters _ have to wake up and smell the roses. If not, then I will be forced to call CPS on you, so that these children don’t grow up to be freaks like  _ you. _ ” Linda snapped.

“Excuse me?” Sans asked, tilting his head.

“Toriel is having a daughter. Let  _ that _ one become a freak. Like her parents. Humans and monsters should  _ never _ be together. You all should have just stayed in the Underground.” Linda yelled.

Sans had held it together up until Linda insulted Toriel. 

It was at that moment, that simultaniously, Sans snapped and Linda realized that she fucked up.

Sans angrily turned Linda’s soul blue and changed her gravity up, slamming her into the ceiling.

“You seem to be misunderstanding,  _ Linda _ . You can insult me all you want, I have a thick skull. But you  _ do not _ insult my family.” He yelled, blue magic streaming from his eye. He released her, letting her fall, screaming to the ground. She smacked her face on the ground, but was remarkably unharmed.

“That was a warning. Do it again, and I  _ will kill you. _ ” Sans coldly said to Linda, who looked up at him in fear.

“Now, I have Alice and now Chara in the hospital. Your son, Alex is helping me. I must say, if a sixth grader can be a more decent human being than a grown ass adult, then that’s saying something.” Sans turned around and left the building.

He had some hurrying up to do.


	35. Free Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara wakes up in the hospital, and they go have just a free day with Alice and Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The OCs will be in the next chapter.
> 
> I will not be able to access a computer until late Sunday night, so I am uploading this now.
> 
> Enjoy~

Chapter 36

 

_“Daddy!” Charlotte laughed reaching for him to pick her up. He was sitting at his desk._

_“Aw, it’s my little Lottie!” Her father gasped as he smiled and picked up the little girl, who laughed._

_“Daddy! Can we go get ice cweam?” Charlotte asked, her curls bouncing._

_“I’m sorry, Lottie, but not tonight.” He said._

_“Aww, why not?” Charlotte pouted._

_“I have a date.” He explained._

_“What’s tat?” Charlotte tilted her head._

_“It means that I’m going to find a new mommy for you.” Her dad explained._

_“A new Mommy?” Charlotte frowned._

_“She won’t replace your mommy.” He quickly added, seeing Charlotte’s expression. “But she can stand in for her.”_

_“When wiw I see Mommy again?” Charlotte asked._

_“You’ll see her again.” He promised. “But it won’t be for a long, long time.”_

_“Aww. I want to see hew!” Charlotte pouted again as her Dad laughed._

_“I’ll tell you what. We have ice cream in the house. What if we had some of that?” He offered._

_“Yay! Ice cweam!” Charlotte giggled._

_“I guess that’s a yes.” He stood up with Charlotte and walked to the kitchen. He sat her down in her high chair as he grabbed two bowls and some chocolate ice cream. He spooned out two bowls, one with a bit more, and gave that one to Charlotte._

_“Yay! Chocowate!” Charlotte cheered._

_“Do you like chocolate?” Her dad asked._

_“Yes! I wove chocowate!” Charlotte said._

_“That’s good.” They saw in silence for a minute, him feeding her ice cream._

_“What’s hew name?” Charlotte asked._

_“Your new mommy?” He asked. Charlotte nodded. “Meredith.”_

_“Mewedith.” Charlotte repeated. “I can’t wait to meet hew!”_

_“She can’t wait either! But first, I have to go on this date. You’re going to be with Lily while I’m gone.”_

_“Wiwy!” Charlotte yelled out, laughing._

_“Yes, Lily.” Her dad laughed as he put her down. “Alright, will you go ahead and grab my hat? I’ll be leaving as soon as Lily gets here.”_

_“Yes daddy.” Charlotte said, bouncing off to grab his hat. But as she reached the door, she paused and turned around. “Daddy?”_ _  
_ _“Yes, Lottie?” He asked._

_“I wove you.” Charlotte said. He paused, and then chuckled._

_“I love you too, Lottie.”_

* * *

 

 **_Ugh...what was that about?_ ** Chara thought as they came to. **_I was only 2 and a half then...I shouldn’t be able to remember that._ **

“Chara! Are you okay?” They heard a worried voice ask. They slowly opened their eyes to see Alex above them. Toriel was sitting in the chair, reading.

“Yeah...I guess.” Chara tried to sit up, but winced in pain.

“Hey, don’t do that! Seriously, the nurses will come back in.” Alex pointed to a monitor. “And I’m not technically supposed to be here.”

“Alright.” Chara laid back down. “What happened?”

“Jimmy attacked you.” Alex explained. “He knocked you out.”

“I...think I remember that.” Chara nodded. “That was just a few minutes ago, wasn’t it?”

“No?” Jimmy tilted his head. “That was two days ago, Chara.”

“It was?” Chara frowned.

“Yes.” Alex nodded. “Do you want me to get your mom?”

“Sure.” Chara said.

“Mrs. Dreemurr! Chara’s awake!” Alex said. Within seconds, Toriel had pushed Alex out of the way and hugged Chara.

“Oh, my child! Are you alright?” She asked. “Well, you aren’t if you’re in the hospital, but…”

“Yeah, I’m about as good as I can get.” Chara said. Toriel unattached herself from the child, and went to grab a plate.

“I made you some chocolate pie.” She explained as she moved over to the table next to Chara. There was a pile of gifts, including a bouquet of flowers. Chara froze, realizing what they were.

“Chara? Y-you’re awake?” They heard Alice say from the bed next to them.

“Yeah.” Chara continued staring at the flowers.

“Chara?” Toriel saw them as she turned around. They both paused looking at them.

“Who brought those?” Toriel whispered.

“What? The buttercups?” Alex asked. She nodded.

“They shouldn’t be here.” Toriel said.

“Get them out.” Chara choked out.

“Why?” Alex frowned.

“Just get them out of here!” Chara snapped. Alex picked them up and left the room. “Who even brought those?”

“I have no idea. They just were here when I woke up this morning.” Alice said.

“That explains it. I would have taken them out if they were in here yesterday.” Toriel said. “None of us really have good memories of buttercups.”

“Yeah.” Chara felt a prick of guilt.

“Here’s your pie, Chara.” Toriel gave them the plate. “I’ll be right back.” She left.

“I tried to be quiet when I woke up, so that I wouldn’t wake you.” Alice explained.

“Thank you for that.” Chara smiled.

“N-no problem.” Alice smiled, then stopped and paused, lost in thought.

**_She must be thinking about Paul…_ **

“Do you want to talk about the trial?” Chara asked. Alice looked up in surprise.

“No, I’m...good.” Alice sighed. “I just want to sort through my own feelings about it. You know how it feels. Someone who you should be able to trust...and they just hurt you and make you feel like the one hurting them.” She looked into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

“I know.” Chara sighed, pulling their arms over their chest. “I know.” They added softly.

“It’s just that...he ruined my life.” Alice sighed. “I have trouble trusting people. I’m s-scared of yelling. I…”

“You’re one of the strongest people I know.” Chara said. Alice looked back over at them in surprise. “I was in the same situation as you. Meredith ruined my life too. She killed my brother. She tried to kill me. The difference between us, is that you’re still fighting. You’re a fighter. I tried to kill myself.” Chara said. “I don’t understand how you’re less Determined than I am.”

“You mean with our Souls?” Alice asked.

“Yes. Your Soul is pink. Mine’s red.” Chara said. “Red is the most Determined. But I don’t understand why…”

“It’s based on another part of the situation.” Alice pointed out. “From the sounds of it, you had no one helping you. I had you guys.”

“That’s true.” Chara frowned. “Speaking of which, was Meredith...your mom, I mean. What happened with her? I mean, well…”

“What was her past?” Alice asked. “Born and raised in Austrailia. She went to college in Britain and met my dad.”

**_So she wasn’t my Meredith...Thank god._ **

“I think I did know your Meredith, though.” Alice said. “She was an old friend of my dad. I think she was arrested, though. He used to take me with him to visit her in prison, before the whole thing with my mum happened.”

“They probably found out that she killed Jonathan and attempted to kill me.” Chara realized.

“Dad never said. I don’t care though, we’ll never see them again.” Alice shrugged.

“That’s true.” Chara said. And they both sat in silence, silently agreeing to always have each other’s back.

After all, birds of a feather, stick together.

* * *

 

Alice and Chara got released from the hospital the same day, and thus, they wound up not going to school that day.

“You guys just got out of the hospital. I don’t think you should go.” Sans shrugged.

“That’s fair.” Alice shrugged. Chara got the feeling she didn’t particularly want to go to school.

“So what do you guys want to do?” He asked.

“Well…” Chara kind of wanted to train their magic some more, but Alice might get hurt.

“What do you want to do, Chara?” Sans looked at them.  
“I kinda want to work on my magic. But I don’t want to hurt Alice.” They explained.

“That’s fair.” Sans said. “We haven’t worked on that in a while. But Alice doesn’t have magic.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind watching.” Alice said.

“How about we see what Alice wants to do first?” Sans asked.

“Umm, can we get ice cream?” Alice asked.

“Sure.” Sans nodded. They headed to the ice cream store and picked some ice cream up.

“Hey there!” The Nice Cream guy greeted them. “Welcome to the Ice Cream Shop!”

“Heya.” Sans smiled back. “So, kids, what would you guys like?”

“I’d like double chocolate chip.” Chara said.

“I’d like butterscotch.” Alice added. The Nice Cream Guy saw Alice, and Chara swore they saw his expression change into one of pity for a split second.

“Alright.” He said, smiling as he made the ice cream. He gave Alice hers first, and then Chara. “Anything for you, Sans?”

“Nope, that’s all.” Sans said, motioning to get out his wallet. The Nice Cream guy waved him off.

“It’s on the house.” He said, looking at Alice, who was eating her ice cream.

“Ah. Okay. Thank you.” Sans smiled. “Have a nice day.”

“You too!” He waved the three off as they left the store.

“Anywhere else you want to go, Alice?” Sans asked.

“Nope.” She shook her head.

“Alright. Let’s go to the field, then.” Sans lead the way, and before Chara knew it, hey were in the field where they had been before.

“Alice, sit over there.” Sans pointed to a patch of red flowers. “We’ll stay away from you so that you don’t get hurt.”

“Okay.” Alice sat down and continued eating her ice cream. “Do you want me to hold yours, Chara?”  
“Nah, I ate mine already.” Chara said. “Thanks, though.”

“No problem.” Alice said, continuing to eat.

“Alright, so where were we before?” Sans asked.

“We were lifting an item that didn’t have a Soul.” Chara said.

“Okay. I want you to try lifting something with a Soul.” Sans said. “Like me. Be careful, though. I still don’t have much HP.”

“Okay.” Chara checked his stats.

 

**Sans AT 1 DF 1 HP 1**

 

“You don’t have LOVE?” Chara asked.

“Normal monsters don’t.” Sans explained.

“Alright.” They shrugged. They then focused their magic, and turned Sans’ Soul blue. They shifted his gravity up to lift him easily.

“That was easy.” They said, their left eye glowing red.

“Huh.” Sans said. “Welp, monsters are just made of magic and dust. We aren’t that heavy.”

“I want to lift something heavier.” Chara said.

“Well then, Alice?” Sans asked. The girl looked up from her ice cream. “Would you like to be lifted?”

“Sure.” Alice shrugged, although Chara could see wariness in her eyes. They put down Sans carefully, and moved over to lift Alice.

 **_Well, it’s definetly harder than lifting Sans._ ** They thought. Alice wasn’t _that_ heavy, but she was heavier than Sans for sure. Alice felt cold as her Soul turned blue, and her gravity was moved up.

“Good job, Chara.” Sans smiled. “You can put her down now.” Chara let go of Alice, letting her drift to the ground.

“Okay, so next, we have creating your own attack.” Sans said. “First, you want to imagine. What weapon would make sense for you to use?”

“A knife.” Chara said immediately.

“Alright. So, imagine having your own knife to throw at people.” Sans stepped back. Chara closed their eyes.

“You don’t need to close your eyes to do this.” Sans joked. “It’s a _knife_ idea, but not the best.” Chara sighed and opened their eyes. They saw a white and black knife pop up in front of them.

“Alright.” Sans nodded. “Now try to summon more.”

Chara summoned more, but then they notcied something odd about several of them.

“Why are they red?” Chara asked.

“I have no idea.” Sans frowned. “I’ve never seen that.”

“Huh.” Chara shrugged. How do I make them go away?”

“Just move your hand.” Sans said. Chara moved their hand in a whooshing motion, and the knives went away.

“Alright, I think that’s about it for today.” Sans shrugged.

“Aww, really?” Chara frowned.

“Can’t think of much else to teach you.” Sans explained. “Hey, there’s a fair going on today, do you guys want to go?”

“Sure.” Alice and Chara said in unison, and then they both laughed.

**_Hey, it seems like it’s all sun and rainbows from here on out._ **


	36. When Chara's Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An chapter from a different POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so here's a thing: This chapter takes place the same day that Chara wakes up. They woke up in the middle of the day, shortly before lunch.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy~
> 
> ~Skater

Chapter 37

 

Flowey looked up as the kid walked in. They just shut the door, locked it, and sat down at the desk with their head down. Flowey could have sworn he heard weird sounds.

“Frisk? Are you okay?” Flowey asked. He thought he heard Frisk mumble something. “What was that?” He asked again.

Frisk looked up at him, and Flowey saw that Frisk was crying. They seemed to agitated to sign, and Flowey knew they didn’t like talking.

“Okay, um, let me guess. Does it have to do with Chara not being there?” Flowey asked. Frisk nodded, taking off their glasses and wiping some tears with their sleeve.

“Okay, so it’s because Chara isn’t there.” Flowey asked. Frisk paused for a second, and shook their head.

“It’s not because Chara isn’t there?” Flowey frowned. “Does it have to do with the other kids?” Frisk hesitated.

“Frisk?” Flowey asked. Frisk put their head back down and started tapping the desk.

“Frisk.” Flowey said. They let out another sob.

“Frisk! Are the other kids bothering you again?” Flowey asked. Frisk nodded, their face rubbing on the desk.

Suddenly, it made sense to Flowey.

**_Chara’s quite intimidating, shall we say. As long as they’re with Frisk, no one’s going to pick on them. But Chara’s not here right now, and…_ **

“Frisk.” Flowey said. Frisk looked up at him through their tears. “Why didn’t you tell Mom or hat smiley trashbag?”

_ Mom’s been worried about Chara. She hasn’t left their hospital room. And Sans is busy, I don’t want to bug him. _ Frisk explained.

“Bring me to school tomorrow with you.” Frisk looked at him in surprise.

_ But I can’t bring pets! _

“Hide me in your backpack. I’m sure most of the teachers won’t care.” Flowey said. “But if there are kids bothering you, and Chara isn’t there to protect you, then I’ll do it.” Frisk hugged Flowey’s flowerpot.

“Thank you.” Frisk whispered.

***

Flowey had to say, he was starting to regret telling Frisk to put him in their backpack. It was dark, cramped, and Flowey was glad that he didn’t really need air. Finally, Flowey felt Frisk get out of the car.

“Can I get out now?” Flowey whispered. Frisk paused for a second and moved off to somewhere, and then opened the backpack.

“Oh, thank Asgore.” Flowey muttered. He was near a pond. From where he could tell, there were several buildings around. He could see the building closest to him was a library, and then there was a long set of buildings.

_ That’s math. _ Frisk signed.  _ The classes in back are for middle schoolers, the ones in front are for high schoolers. _

“Alright, so where do you normally hang out?” Flowey asked.

_ Here.  _ Frisk explained.  _ No one likes the pond, so I stay here when Chara isn’t here.  _

“That makes sense.” Flowey nodded. “Why don’t people like the pond?”

_ Someone’s drowned in it before. _ Frisk explained.

“Well, thats reassuring.” Flowey was shocked. “What class do you have first?”

_ Science. _ Frisk signed as the bell rang.  _ We have to go to class. _

“Alright, just lead the way.” Flowey said. “And put me back in the backpack.” Frisk nodded and put him back in the backpack. Flowey felt Firsk’s movements as they moved to another set of classrooms.

“Oh, would you look at that.” Flowey heard a voice. “It’s the mute freak.” Laughter. 

“Ha! That stupid hand movement won’t do anything. In fact,” Flowey heard him come closer. “May as well be quiet.” Flowey felt Frisk start to struggle as the other kids laughed.   
“Hey! Stop that, Ashley!” Another girl started to stand up for Frisk.

“Well, for all I know, they’re enjoying this. So shut up, Kaya.”

“Just look at them. Do they look like they’re enjoying you holding their hands together so they can’t stim?” Kaya demanded.

“Does it matter?” Ashley scoffed.

“ASHLEY!” A voice caused Frisk to jump with Flowey in their backpack. “HOW  _ DARE _ YOU PULL THIS! Everyone inside,  _ now. _ ” Flowey saw the lighting change through the backpack.

“Get up here, Ashley.” Flowey heard as Frisk unzipped the backpack so that Flowey could see. Flowey saw a redheaded girl with a weird nose walk up to the teacher.

“Quiet hands is an abusive tactic used on children.” The teacher scolded quietly, although Flowey could hear her. “Frisk is autistic. They need to be able to stim to talk, to be able to calm themselves.”

“But Linda said-”

“I don’t  _ care _ what Linda said. Quiet hands are  _ never _ appropriate to do to anyone. How would you feel if someone took away the one thing that kept you calm. No, imagine that your grades kept you calm, and constantly being able to see what your grades were helped. Now, imagine if someone took your phone and your computer, so that you couldn’t check them. And let’s add that you took a test, and are worried that you failed it and it brought your grade down. How would  _ you _ feel?” Ashley was in shocked silence.

“I’m adding this out loud so that everyone can hear.” The teacher said. “Bullying will  _ not _ be tolerated in my classroom. I don’t care if any of the other teachers turn a blind eye, I won’t.” She wrote something down on a piece of paper. “Here you go, Ashley. I’ll bring you to the office. Kaya, you’re in charge.”

“Got it, Mrs. Castro.” Kaya nodded as Mrs. Castro and Ashley left.

“Get me out of here.” Flowey muttered to Frisk. Frisk nodded and pulled him out.

“What’s that?’ Kaya asked.

“Howdy!” Flowey said, smiling like he did when he first met Frisk. Several kids jumped in surprise. “I’m Flowey. Flowey the flower.”

“Flowey? You couldn’t have named it anything creative?” Some kid stated.

“I named myself, friend.” Flowey smiled. “I was alive loooong before I ever met Frisk.”

“What, are you from the underground?” The same kid responded.

“Yes, actually.” Flowey nodded. “What’s your name?”

“I-uh, what does it matter?” He demanded. Flowey looked at Frisk, who shrugged.

“It doesn’t.” Flowey said. “Because I don’t care. Anyways,” Flowey continued as several kids giggled. “I heard that Frisk here has had a bit of a problem since Chara’s been gone. Is that true?” The giggling went away.

“Well, yeah.” Kaya said. “It’s only a handful of kids, but they’re in most of their classes, it seems.”

“Ah. Who exactly are they?” Flowey asked.

“One of them just went to the office, Ashley. Then it’s Ashley’s friend, Anna, and then their other friend, Jimmy. Jimmy doesn’t seem as eager to do it as he he was before.”

“Before?” Flowey asked.

“Yeah, Frisk was bullied all the way up until Chara came.” Kaya said. “Chara’s stood up for them, which is surpising.”

“Why? Why did no one else stand up for them?” Flowey demanded.

“Because no one’s stood up to Jimmy and not gotten their butt kicked.” Another girl said.

“Makayla’s right.” Kaya nodded. “That group of kids are trouble. No one likes them, but everyone’s too scared to stand up to them.”

“Well, I’m not scared.” Flowey scoffed. “Let me fight them.”

“Flowey, no offense, but you don’t have arms.” Kaya pointed out.

“That means nothing.” Flowey summoned some friendliness pellets.

“Oh, right.” Kaya said.

_ Flowey, no. _ Frisk signed as Flowey sighed and whisked the pellets away.

“Oh! Frisk, what is that?” Flowey tuned to Mrs. Castro as she walked back in without Ashley.

“I’m Flowey. Flowey the flower.” Flowey reintroduced himself.

“A talking flower? How interesting!” Mrs. Castro leaned down. “Frisk, do you mind if I take it to my desk?” Frisk nodded.

“I’m kinda helping Frisk today, so I need to be back with them when the bell rings.” Flowey explained.

“Got it.” Mrs. Castro nodded as she picked up his flowerpot and moved it to her desk. She then handed out some papers to everyone and explained what the assignment was, and that you could talk to each other. She then returned to her desk.

“I remember you.” Mrs. Castro said. “You yelled ‘Hail Satan’ when Linda tried to smell you at that PTA meeting that one time.”

“Oh yeah.” Flowey said.  **_What a way to be remembered..._ ** “Chara told me to.”

“That explains a lot.” She said. “You can just call me Gloria.”

“Alright.” Flowey nodded. 

“So, how can you talk?” Gloria asked.

“Well, it’s a long story, but basically I have the same Determination that most humans have. I was brought back to life after dying as a flower.” Flowey said.

“Hmm, that’s interesting.” Gloria said. “And you were a monster, correct?”

“Yes, I was. I died back in 2019.” Flowey said. “I was 11.”

“Oh, that’s too young to die.” Gloria frowned. 

“It is.” Flowey sighed. “But it wasn’t my fault.”

“What happened?” Gloria asked.

“Well, this was back when monsters were entirely too wary of monsters.” Flowey said. “A human had fallen underground and died, and I absorbed their soul. I made it above ground with their body, because they wanted to be laid with a patch of flowers in their town. But a bunch of humans saw me with the body and thought I killed them, so they attacked me. I made it back underground before I died.” Flowey sighed, recalling that terrible day. Why did he let Chara convince him to go with their plan?

“That’s terrible.” Gloria shook her head. “ _ Yo siento por su muerte. _ ”

“Thank you?” Flowey frowned, confused.

“It means, ‘Sorry for your death’.” Gloria explained.

“Ah.” Flowey nodded. “What language is that?”

“Spanish.” Gloria said. “It’s my first language. I speak it in the house.”

“That’s cool.” Flowey nodded. “Monsters have their own language, although they know English as well.”

“That’s interesting.” Gloria nodded. The rest of the period continued on like that until the bells rang. Frisk walked up and grabbed Flowey.

“Hey, Frisk.” Gloria said. “Don’t forget to put him back in your backpack. I don’t know how many of the other teachers are going to appreciate a talking flower.” Frisk nodded and hummed in appreciation as they tucked Flowey back into their backpack. They signed  _ Thank you _ and left.

***

Most of the rest of the day went like that, until it was time for math.

“Frisk, put me on the desk.” Flowey said. Frisk looked at him in confusion, but nodded. Linda walked in and paled at the sight of the flower.

“Frisk, no pets are allowed in school.” Linda scolded. 

“Good thing I’m not a pet, then, huh?” Flowey retorted.

“You’re-”

“A flower.” Flowey interupted. “There’s no way to prove that I’m anything else.” Linda glared at him.

“The only way you can speak is if you’re alive.” Linda retorted.

“I’m here for a reason.” Flowey retorted. “And that reason is because someone took out Chara. So you can either deal with me, or deal with Chara.” Linda glared at him and and then sighed.

“Very well. Class, here’s the daily worksheet, just turn into the bucket by the door when you’re done.” Linda slammed them onto the front table and left the room.

**_Wow, I really pissed her off._ ** Flowey thought. The kids all grabbed a worksheet, several of them pushing Frisk out of the way to grab theirs. Everyone sat down and started chatting as they worked on the worksheet. As Flowey expected, Jimmy swaggered up to Frisk.

“Hey freak, what’s this?” Jimmy pointed at Flowey.

“I’m Flowey! Flowey the Flower!” Flowey smiled.

“I didn’t ask you.” Jimmy retorted.

“Well, I’m the one responding. Bcause Frisk doesn’t need to respond to the likes of  _ you. _ ” Flowey countered as the class went _ ‘ooohh’. _

“Wow, she can’t even talk.” Jimmy scoffed. Flowey noticed Frisk gripping the desk in frustration. “She has to depend on a fucking flower to talk for her? How pathetic.”

“How about you shove your wrong pronouns up your ass?” Flowey retorted. “Frisk goes by they/them pronouns.”

“That’s so fucking stupid.” Jimmy scoffed.

“No, you know what’s stupid?’ Flowey demanded. “Waiting until the person who stands up for an autistic child to be injured and unable to be near them just to pick on the child.”

“It’s not my fault that Chara’s injured.” Jimmy defended himself.

“That’s a lie and you know it.” Flowey turned in shock to the voice as the whole class went silent.

“What the fuck did you just say, freak?” Jimmy demanded of Frisk.

“You attacked them.” Frisk said quietly. Loud enough to be heard, but still quiet. They coughed. “They went to get a vital part of the Science Fair thing and you attacked them and knocked them out.”

“That-I never-” Jimmy started to retort as everyone started whispering.

“Frisk never talks!”   
“They must be telling the truth if it’s important enough for them to say it!”

“It is true! I saw it!” Then everyone turned to Jimmy in anger.

“Wait! They’re-” Someone slapped Jimmy as other people cheered.

“Frisk, let’s get out of here.” Flowey said. Frisk nodded and grabbed him and their backpack, and ran out the door.

“Quick! Avoid Linda!” Flowey said. Frisk nodded and ran, sliding past Linda, wo jsut looked at them confused.

“Why are you not in class?” Linda asked as Frisk ran off. She shrugged and continued walking back. Frisk continued running, all the way out to near the pond.

“What now?” Flowey asked. Frisk frowned, and then ran to the side of the pond. Flowey saw a rather determined look on their face as they took very calculated steps over to the fence. Frisk paused and put Flowey in their backpack. Flowey felt them ascend, and then fall for a bit until Frisk hit the ground and continued walking.

“Frisk, did you just climb the fence?” Flowey asked, hearing an affirming hum from Frisk.

“What now?” Flowey asked.

“Home.” Frisk said quietly.

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.” Flowey said.

“You can’t see me sign.” Frisk explained.

“Ah.” Flowey said. “Do you normally walk home?”

“Dunkle Sans picks me up.” Frisk said.

“That makes sense.” Flowey said. “What made you talk to Jimmy?”

“I just-” Suddenly, Flowey felt Frisk get yanked up, and then he felt himself falling as the backpack fell off. He slammed into Frisk’s binders, thankfully not breaking the flowerpot. Unfortunately, the backpack was closed.

“Frisk? Friiisk?" Flowey asked, worried. Flowey shoved a leaf under the little gap left by the zipper in an attempt to open it. Unfortunately, it ony served to rip the leaf, he realized as he felt a wave of pain from the leaf.

**_I’m glad I didn’t use my head…_ ** He thought as he tried to think of another way to get out without hurting himself or the backpack. He grabbed the zipper on the inside with his teeth, and tried to pull it up, feeling satisfied as it moved up the tiniest bit. He worked hard, pulling it up over the course of several minutes, finally opening it up as he stuck his head out. But he was too late.

Frisk was nowhere to be seen.


	37. A Moment of Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans finds out that Frisk has been kidnapped, Toriel freaks out, and they talk with the police.

Chapter 37

 

Sans stopped back at the house with a sugar high Alice and Chara.

“Thank you Sans for t-taking us to the fair.” Alice said as Chara nodded.

“That was a lot of fun.”

“You’re very welcome.” Sans said as he walked into the kitchen. He noticed that the phone had several messages.

“Huh, that’s interesting.” Sans frowned. He listened to them.

“Good afternoon, is Sans there? We are here on behalf of…”

**_Some stupid telemarketer._ ** Sans deleted it.

“Hello? Is this the parent of Frisk Dreemurr?” Sans recognised the voice.

**_That’s Gloria._ **

“I just wanted to let you know that Frisk brought Flowey to school today. While it was interesting talking to him, please remind both him and Frisk that sentient beings that are not enrolled in school are not allowed on campus. Thank you, and have a nice day.” End of the message.

“Frisk brought Flowey?” Chara asked. “I wonder why?”

“Me too. Flowey wasn’t in the car when I dropped them off.” Sans said as he flipped to the next message.

“Good afternoon, Sans.” Sans rolled his eyes at Linda’s voice. “I wanted to let you know that pets are absolutely  _ not _ allowed anywhere on campus. While I am willing to let this slide, I will give your daughter detention if this happens again.”

“Of course it’s Linda.” Chara scoffed as Sans started the next phone call.

“Also, tell your daughter that if she leaves in the middle of class, she’s not going to amount to anything later in life.” Linda hung up.

“How DARE she?” Chara bristled.

“Wait, Frisk c-cutting class?” Alice raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think F-frisk would do that for no good reason? Sounds to me like L-linda’s just trying to start something.”

“I agree.” Sans said as he started the next call.

“Hello. This is an automated phone call from the Ebott school district. Your child, Frisk Dreemurr, was marked absent today from their English 6 class with their teacher Napstablook.”

“Frisk skipped a class? That’s not like them.” Chara frowned.

“Definitely not.” Sans said as he started the next call.

“Hello. This is an automated phone call from the Ebott school district. Your child, Frisk Dreemurr, was marked absent from their Monster History class with their teacher Toriel Dreemurr.”

“Okay, something’s up.” Sans said as he went to the next call, which was from Toriel.

“Hello, Sans?” Toriel said. “This is Toriel. Did you drop off Frisk today at school? They were absent when I came in, halfway through their class. Please call me back as soon as you can. Thank you, and goodbye.” Sans looked at the time.

**_It’s 3:45. Frisk should have gotten out about 15 minutes ago, and the teachers are supposed to be there until 4:30. Well, except Mettaton, but that’s because he’s Mettaton and has shows right after school._ **

“What’s going on?’ Alice asked.

“I have no idea.” Sans said as he continued to the next phone call, which said that Frisk was gone from Band. The second to last phone call was from Mettaton.

“Hello? My darling Frisk isn’t here for me to pick them up to bring home. Do you want me to wait a bit longer for them, or should I just leave?” Mettaton asked. “Please call me back, darling.”

“That’s not normal for Frisk at all.” Chara said.

“Chara, can you tell how Frisk feels?” Sans asked.

“Yeah. They’re a bit scared?” Chara frowned. “But not hurt as much as I can feel.”

“That’s good. But why are they scared?” Sans frowned. The last phone call was from Toriel.   
“Hello? This is Toriel. Mettaton just called me. I guess Frisk isn’t at the dance studio.” Toriel sounded worried. “Please call me as soon as you can. Thank you.”

Sans went to dial up Toriel’s number.

“Hello?” Toriel picked up.

“Heya, Tori.” Sans said.

“Oh, thank god!” Toriel said. “Is Frisk there?”

“Nope.” Sans said. “I dropped them off this morning. Apparently they brought Flowey to school, I got two phone calls about that. And then I got several phone calls about Frisk not being in class for English, Band, or Monster History. I also have two from you and one from Mettaton.”

“They brought Flowey.” Toriel repeated. “And they skipped three classes.” She laughed nervously. “Can you come to the school?”

“Yeah, sure.” Sans said. “Should I bring the kids?”

“I don’t care, just come to the school.” Toriel snapped as she hung up.

“Alright.” Sans hung up as well. “Let’s go kids.” 

***

They were driving when Alice spotted it.

“Hey, what’s that?” Alice asked, pointing at the object.

“It looks like a backpack.” Chara said.

“A backpack?” Sans felt a shock of horror. “Alright, change of plans. I want you two to go to Toriel and ask her to meet me in front of the school. I’m going to go check out the backpack.”

“Got it.” They both said as Sans parked. They opened the door and walked in through the entrance to the school as Sans headed towards the backpack.

**_That looks familiar…_ ** Sans realized as he knelt down to check it out, only to find one angry, worried looking flower who tried to bite him.

“Whoa! It’s me, Flowey.” Sans said as he stopped the flower from biting him. “What happened?”   
“I don’t know! We were walking, and all of a sudden, I felt Frisk being lifted, and then I fell. I managed to get out of the backpack, and Frisk was gone.” Flowey said. Sans stared at him in shock.

**_Someone just took Frisk?_ ** Sans growled, his eyes going dark.

“When did this happen?” Sans demanded, trying to see if Flowey was gonna lie or not.

“Not too long ago.” Flowey lied, like Sans thought he would.

“Stop lying to me!” Sans snapped. “The school called us to say that Frisk was gone from their last three classes. So, when did you  _ actually _ leave?”

Flowey sighed. “Right after Frisk’s math class started.”

“Why did Frisk bring you?” Sans asked. “And why right during math?” 

“Frisk brought me because after Chara left, people started bullying them again.” Flowey explained. “We left during math because Linda wasn’t in it at the time, and we turned everyone against Jimmy. In fact, Frisk actually talked for the first time because Jimmy was claiming that he had nothing to do with Chara. Then people started throwing punches, and we decided to get out of there.”

“Frisk talked?” Sans asked, surprised. His eyes went back to normal. “And what do you mean, ‘again’?”   
“I guess they were bullied before Chara came.” Flowey explained. Sans frowned as his eyes went dark again. He was a bit hurt.

**_Why didn’t they ever come to me?_ **

“Sans!” Sans looked up at the sight of Toriel. “What happened? You’re crying.”

**_I am?_ ** Sans wiped his face and saw that his sleeves were wet.  **_Huh, I am._ **

“Frisk was k-kidnapped.” Sans’ voice cracked, as he saw her face turn into one of horror.

“No!” Toriel burst out into tears.

“What?” Chara gasped as Alice put her hand to her mouth.

“We’ll find them, don’t worry, Tori.” Sans assured her.

“Oh, i’m damn sure we’re going to find them.” Toriel retorted. “Flowey, did you happen to catch which way the kidnapper went?”

“No.” Flowey shook his head. “I was in the backpack with it closed.”

“Oh, come on!” Toriel shook her head. “Useless.” Flowey looked sad at that.

“I’m going to call the police.” Sans said, walking off to call the police.

“I just-AGH!” Toriel put her hand to her chest.

“Mom? Are you okay?” Chara asked.

“...I’m fine.” Toriel sighed. “The baby’s soul is moving around a lot.”

“You sure?” Alice asked, tilting her head.

“Yes.” Toriel stood a bit straighter, but she was frowning.

**_Wonder what that’s about…_ **

“Alright, they’re sending out an officer to help us.” Sans said, his eyes disappearing. 

“Oh, I hope they get here soon.” Toriel said. As she said that, a police car pulled up. A woman in her early 30’s came out. She had tanned skin, very curly black hair with red streaks in it, and extremely light blue eyes. She shook out her hair as she pulled out a notepad.

“Officer Liliane Sarkozy at your service.” Liliane said in a french accent. “You reported a kidnapping?”

“Yes.” Sans said. “Our child Frisk was kidnapped when they were running away from school.”

“Alright. Do you have a picture of them?” Liliane wrote down.

“Here we go.” Sans gave her his phone. Liliane looked lost in thought the moment she saw Frisk’s picture, but quickly snapped out of it and started writing out their appearance.

“Long brown hair...glasses...reddish-brown eyes...is this the outfit they were wearing today?” She asked.

“Yes.” Sans nodded.

“Okay, then blue and purple shirt and black leggings…” Liliane reported. “Why did they run away from school?”   
“They were running away from a fight.” Sans said. “They’re autistic, and they’re selectively mute. They talked to tell people that a bully was lying, and people started beating up the bully.”

“Alright.” Liliane said. “Was anyone else with them?”

“Well, Flowey was.” Sans said.

“May I talk to this ‘Flowey’?” Liliane asked.

“Sure.” Sans picked up Flowey’s pot and handed it to her.

“Oh, um…” Liliane gave Sans an odd look. “Well...what did you see?”

“Nothing.” Flowey said, startling Liliane to where she almost dropped him. “I can tell you what I felt, though. Frisk and I were talking as Frisk was running off, and I felt someone pick Frisk up from inside the backpack. I tried to get out, but by the time I did, they were gone.”

“Alriiight then.” Liliane handed him back to Sans and wrote down what Flowey said. “Anything else?”

“We think it happened about 11:30ish.” Sans said. “That’s all we know.”

“Okay.” She wrote that down. “Thank you for your information.”

“Thank  _ you _ for help.” Sans replied.

“You’re very welcome.” Liliane responded happliy, and then her face grew sad for a second. “I...know how you feel. I had a daughter. Her name was Clarisse. She went missing two years ago, when she was 9.”   
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Sans frowned.

“It’s fine. I’ve started to move on, you know?” Liliane smiled. “I’ll give you guys my number, call me anytime if you find out anything else. I’ll look around for your child.”

“Alright.” Sans nodded as she put her number into his phone. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem.” Liliane said. “It’s what I would have wanted someone to do for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited for the next few chapters =)
> 
> Also, I have a two week ballet intensive starting tomorrow, and my brother is visiting on tuesday! This'll be the first time I've seen him since November :D
> 
> See you guys next week!
> 
> ~Skater


	38. A Nice Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A PTA meeting lead by Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update because why the hell not?
> 
> Enjoy~

Chapter 38

 

Sans sighed as he drove alone to the school for a PTA meeting. Chara and Alice were already there, due to a rehearsal for the play. Toriel had stayed home, using the baby as an excuse to not leave the house.

**_Can’t exactly blame her. We’re both tormented over Frisk..._ **

It had been a few days since Frisk had been kidnapped. Toriel had gone to see Alphys that morning before they dropped off the kids at school.

* * *

_ “Y-yes, you’re fine, Toriel.” Alphys said, turning off the machine that checked on the baby’s Soul. “Just, t-try to not stress out t-too much, okay? It’s bad for the baby.” _

_ “Who is the PUNK that DARED to kidnap MY Frisk?” Undyne growled. “I’ll kick that motherfucker’s ass into the Core, I swear.” _

_ “Undyne, c-calm down!” Alphys yelped. _

_ “No! Frisk is my  _ bestie _. I’m not going to let some creep just take them, they can’t even fight back!” Undyne retorted. _

_ “First off, we don’t even know where they are. For all we know, they could be in another country.” Sans pointed out. “But as soon as we find them, I swear...” Sans’ eyes went dark at that. _

_ Chara and Alice were there as well, with Alice looking more than a little startled at Undyne’s yelling. _

_ “I’m gonna go back out with Papyrus and look for them.” Undyne announced, quieting down when they noticed Alice. “They couldn’t have gotten that far.” _

_ “Thank you.” Toriel nodded, holding back some tears as Undyne left. _

_ “Alright, so r-remember, Toriel.” Alphys said. “Don’t stress yourself out.” _

_ “I won’t.” Toriel promised. _

_ “That means not going to look for Frisk.” Sans said. _

_ “What? No!” Toriel retorted. _

_ “It’s going to stress you out more if you go out and can’t find them than if you wait and let me tell you what we find.” He pointed out. _

_ “...” Toriel frowned. _

_ “Come on. You know I’m right.” Sans teased. _

_ “You are and I hate it.” Toriel muttered. “Alright. But let me know the SECOND you know ANYTHING. Got it?” _

_ “Yes ma’am.” Sans agreed. _

* * *

And so Sans was going to the PTA meeting alone. He pulled into the parking lot and walked up to the school. As he went into the PTA room, he saw that Chara, Alice, Alex, Ashley and Jimmy were all there sitting outside, Jimmy a bit away from the other three. Sans noted the bruise on his eye. Chara was holding their arm and frowning.

“Hey, kiddos.” Sans said. “Where’s Linda? Isn’t she supposed to be here?”

“I don’t know.” Jimmy shrugged. “She went to do something.”

“Whatever, I don’t actually care.” Sans shrugged. “Is the door locked?”

“Yeah.” Alex nodded.

“Not for long.” Sans walked off and took a shortcut into the room. He opened it from the inside.

Wha-how-never mind.” Jimmy sighed, giving up as the four walked into the room.

“I guess I’m early.” Sans shrugged as he took a seat.

“You didn’t bring food?” Jimmy asked, obviously shocked.

“Well,  _ kid _ , if you’ve been paying attention the past few days, you would know that the PTA meetings are the last thing on our mind right now.” Sans said. “So scram.”

Jimmy muttered something under his breath and walked off.

**_If he hadn’t beat up Chara, they would have been with Frisk and they wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped._ **

He sighed and went to sit down to calm down a bit and to keep his magic from attacking Jimmy.

**_That entire family, minus Alex, is trash. How is Linda even allowed to be president of the PTA?_ **

“Um, Mr. Dreemurr?” Speaking of Alex, Sans looked up to see him. “I, um, am sorry about what happened to Frisk.”

“Thank you, Alex.” Sans said, smiling politely.

“If you need any help, j-just feel free to ask me.” He offered.

“Oh, you don’t have to! But thank you, I’ll let you know.” Sans nodded. “Is your mom okay with it?” Alex’s face dropped.

“Honestly, she doesn’t want me to have anything to do with your family whatsoever.” He admitted. “Not after what happened at Science Fair.”

**_When I attacked her…_ **

“But I don’t care.” Alex shrugged. “Chara, Frisk, and Alice are my friends. She can’t deny that.”

“Y-yeah, I consider you g-guys my friends too.” Alice agreed.

**_That stutter’s back...I wonder how long it’ll stay?_ **

“I do too.” Chara seconded. “Thank you  _ so _ much, Alex.” They held onto their arm.

“What happened to your arm?” Sans asked.

“It’s sore.” Chara explained.

“Really? Why is it sore?” Sans frowned. Chara looked away before replying.

“I think it’s just a fluke.” Chara shrugged. “It’ll be fine in a few.”

“Alright.” Sans looked at them suspiciously, but nodded, as he heard the door open. He looked up to see Helen and Anna.

“Oh, h-hello, Sans.” Helen greeted him nervously as Anna went over to Jimmy.

“Heya.” He said back. “I actually wanted to ask you a couple things.” She gulped and sat down across from him as Alex, Chara, and Alice walked off.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. I was just curious about something.” He assured her. She nodded. “How is Linda the president of the PTA? I mean, there’s got to be other parents who are more qualified.”

“Well, t-that’s a lot of things.” Helen said, taken back by his question. “For one, the principal specifically asked for her to be president.”

“He did?”  **_Wonder how she convinced him to do that?_ **

“Yeah. And secondly, being president is a lot of work. She had the most free time out of everyone. Both Adalia and Iris work, I, well, refused the offer, Diane works as a secretary, Gloria has six kids and two jobs, David works as a major CEO, and you, Paul, and Carol are all new this year.”

“But doesn’t Linda work here as a teacher? You don’t work, do you?” Sans asked.

“Well, not right now.” Helen admitted. ‘I’m looking for a job, though.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why did you refuse the position?”

“Because in all honesty, I didn’t want it. It was a whole new responsibility, and I already had a lot on my plate. It was very strange though. The principal kept pestering me and asking me to take the position, and then all of a sudden, we came to the meeting and he told me that Linda took the position.”   
“That is strange.” Sans frowned.

“Even stranger, he used to come to the meetings all the time. But once Linda was elected, he stopped.”

“He used to come? That’s really odd.” Sans tilted his head.

“That was four years ago. Now, Linda’s changed everything.” Helen said.

“Thank you for telling me.” Sans replied.

“You’re welcome.” Helen nodded as Diane walked in. Diane looked angry as she walked off towards Helen and Sans.

“That girl, I swear to god…” Diane muttered.

“What happened?” Helen asked as Sans went off towards Chara, Alice, and Alex.

“...so yeah.” Chara finished.

“Heya.” Sans said.

“Hi Sans!” Alex said. “So, are you excited for Christmas?”

“Christmas?”  **_That’s coming up already?_ **

“Yeah. You know? It’s in a few weeks. How did you miss all the advertisements?” Alex frowned.

“I’m sorry.” Sans shook his head. “A lot’s happened. We haven’t been paying attention.”

“Christmas?” Alice frowned.

“Yeah.” Alex said.

“I-I’m sorry, but what’s that?” Alice tilted her head in genuine confusion.

“You don’t know what Christmas is?” Alex looked at her, absolutely shocked.

“No?” Alice frowned.

“It’s a major holiday! You didn’t see any advertisements for it? You didn’t see any trees or wreath?” Alex questioned.

“I wasn’t al-allowed to use the TV. We never c-celebrated Christmas.” Alice explained. “I w-wasn’t even allowed outside t-the house. I couldn’t see anything Christmas related.”

“So the rumors were true…” Alex muttered.

“Rumors?” Alice frowned.

“People were talking about why you were gone from school for a week and why you had gone missing.” Alex explained. “One of the rumors was, well, the truth.” 

“O-oh.” Alice frowned.

“Wait, what day is it?” Sans asked.

“It’s December 11th.” Alex said.

**_How did I miss it?_ **

“It seems like not a lot of people are here.” Alex noted. “Anna and Ashley are here, but that’s it, and it’s time for the meeting to start. And where’s Mom?”

“I have no idea.”  **_And I don’t care._ **

“Alright, so since Linda isn’t here, I’m taking over as leader today.” Sans announced. “So everyone around the table.” Alex, Alice, and Chara went over to the table, but Jimmy, Anna, and Ashley gave Sans a side-eye, and continued talking.

“I said, everyone around the table.” Sans said calmly. Anna stuck her tongue out at him.

**_That little-_ ** Sans sighed and turned her Soul blue, and directed her gravity towards the table, changing it back just before she hit the table.

“Now, do you two want to get to the table, or do you need help?” Sans asked, turning her Soul back to it’s normal purple. Jimmy and Ashley immediately walked over to the table.

“Good.” Sans coughed. “Now, first up on the list is-”

“I am so sorry!” They all looked up as Carol burst into the room. “Emalie and Timmy were sick, and I had to help them, but then I remembered the meeting…”

“It’s fine, Carol.” Sans waved her off. “Is someone with them?”

“Yes.” Carol nodded. “I hired a babysitter.”

“Okay, good.” Sans nodded as Carol sat down. “Alright, so first up, Linda wanted to talk about the spring bake sale.”

“Alright, do you mind if I say something, Sans, since you’re new?” Helen said.

“That’s fine.” Sans responded.

“We normally decide what organization to donate to. We split it half and half with going to the PTA’s budget, and going to charity. We also are supposed to mark stuff that has food allergies.”

“Alright, thank you.” Sans nodded. “Any ideas?”

The moms suggested some, and Sans did as well, until they agreed on one.

“Okay, so what will everyone bring? We’ll probably bring some pies.”

“I’ll bring brownies.” Carol said.

“Maybe we should write down what everyone’s bringing?” Diane suggested.

“Good idea, Diane.” Sans said. He noted that Diane seemed suprised. He pulled a paper and pen out of his pocket, and wrote down what he and Carol were bringing. “What are you two bringing?”   
“I’ll bring cupcakes.” Helen said.

“And I’ll bring cookies.” Diane added. Sans wrote those down.

“Alright, now that’s settled.” Sans cracked his knuckles. “Anything else?”

“Well, we should probably discuss the PTA Christmas party.” Helen spoke up.

“The Christmas party?” Sans asked.

“Yes. We normally hold a party every year at the president’s house for Christmas. We have stuff for the kids, and stuff for the parents.” Helen explained.

“Y-yes, that is a good thing to discuss.” They all looked up as Linda walked in. She adjusted her pencil skirt, pulling it down a bit.

**_Oh boy. She’s here. And a bit desheveled..._ **

“We have a potluck every year, and the kids get to do whatever and the parents get to have some wine.” Linda laughed as if it was some sort of inside joke.

“Wine? Really? I prefer vodka myself.” Carol shrugged as Linda glared at her.

“ _ Anyways _ , we have it at my house on December 23rd every year.” Linda said. “I’ll give out my address later.  Now, let’s talk about the spring bake sale-”

“Been there, done that.” Sans shrugged. “We already talked about it. What are you bringing?”

“I-what?” Linda looked at him, shocked.

“What are you bringing?” Sans pushed the list towards her. She muttered as she put down that she was bringing lemon squares.

“But we’re supposed to talk about what organization we’re supporting!” Linda yelped.

“We did that too. Gosh, pay attention, Linda.” Sans joked. Linda glared at him.

“Well, kind of hard to do so when you’re not here.” She snapped.

**_Sheesh, I was joking…_ **

“What were you doing, anyways?” Sans asked.

“That’s none of your business.” Linda said.

“That’s fine, I don’t really care.” Sans shrugged. “What’s next?”


	39. New Developments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans learns something new about Linda, and two siblings have an argument...

Chapter 39

 

“Not much. I guess we should just end the me-”

“Hold on one second, Linda.” Carol interupted. Linda glared at her, but she ignored it. “I want to say something about the health education.”

“You mean the required Health and Safety class?” Linda asked.

“Yes. I was thinking. Now we have monsters attending the school, I think we should update the curriculum with them in mind.”

“Monsters are similar to humans, and most stuff they already know. That is not necessary.” Linda shrugged.

“No, I agree.” Sans spoke up. “There’s a lot of problems with the health curriculum, and this could be a good way to fix those as well.”

“Like what?” Linda groaned.

“Firstly, the fitness unit. What I think is that instead of expecting the kids to work out on their own, they should work out in their class period with fun workouts. Like dancing workouts.” Sans said. “Classes are 65 minutes, and they only need 30 for a workout. It would _work out_ pretty well.”

“Ugh.” Linda rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, I can’t find a problem with that solution.”

“Next, the drugs and alcohol unit. They should focus on them one at a time and talk about what they each result in for more than five seconds. Maybe they could even have people who are willing to talk about it come in and talk about their addictions.” Sans suggested. “If we can raise enough with the bake sale and the school play, we can pay them.”

“But that would scare the children.” Linda pointed out.

“Not necessarily.” Sans shook his head. “We don’t need to scare them. They’re tougher than you think. We just need them to know the risks.” Linda rolled her eyes again and looked at Helen, who just shrugged. Linda put her hands in the air in frustration.

“And lastly, we need to fix the Sex Ed curriculum.”

“No. There’s nothing wrong with it.” Linda shook her head. “We’re not talking about it in front of the kids.”

“I don’t know if you recall, Linda, but a certain _someone_ does it already.” Chara spoke up as they glared at Jimmy. “So really, it’s necessary.”

“W-well, just because one child knows, doesn’t mean that the others do!” Linda retorted.

“Know what?” Alice whispered to Chara.

“See?” Linda nodded to Alice.

“Most of the other kids know. The only reason she doesn’t is because her parents never explained.” Sans said. “Even if none of them know, they’ll be learning it eventually. Whether it’s this year or in a few years. They need to know this stuff.”

“...fine.” Linda resigned herself. “What do you have to say?”

“Well first, they barely go over other forms of protection.” Sans pointed out. “Just abstinence.” Chara looked away, remembering ‘the talk’ with Toriel as their face burned.

“Well, that’s all they need.” Linda shrugged. “Premarital sex is a sin, after all.”

“Not everyone is Christian, Linda.” Sans pointed out. “And a lot of people just don’t care. And secondly, they do not go over safe sex for those who are gay or transgender.”

“Transgender?” Alex frowned as Linda put her hands over his ears.

“Those are choices that people make. We don’t need to go over those choices for them.” Linda retorted. ‘Because if their parents are good, they won’t be turned into one of those people.”

“Why would someone choose to be ridiculed like that? They’re born that way. Let them be happy.” Sans pointed out.

“Wait! What does that mean?” Alex asked as he pulled Linda’s hands off his ears.

“Nothing! It’s just someone who wants to be special.” Linda told him, attempting to put her hands back over his ears. “You don’t need to know about _those_ type of people.”

“First off, Linda, get your hands off him. he obviously wants to learn. It’s not going to hurt him. And secondly, you mean transgender people?” Sans asked. Alex nodded. “It means someone who doesn’t identify with the gender they’re born as. It would be like if someone who is biologically female identifies as male, or the opposite. It’s perfectly natural, and people are born that way.” Alex looked lost in thought after Sans said that.

“God made everyone perfect.” Linda retorted, pulling Alex into a hug as she glared at Sans. “Transgender people are just attention seekers.”

“God made everyone perfect? I have to disagree. After all, he made you.” Sans pointed out, as Chara put their hand to their mouth in shock and tried to stop themselves from laughing. They saw the other kids, as well as Helen, Diane, and Carol doing the same, while Linda looked shocked.

“How dare you?” She snapped.

“No, how dare you? You don’t attack someone for being themselves. You don’t have to agree, but you just don’t.” Sans retorted. “People have _died_ because someone didn’t like that they were gay or transgender. God says ‘Love thy neighbor’, but you sure as _hell_ don’t follow that.”

“God says-” Linda started.

“God also says ‘Do not judge, or you will be judged.’.” Sans said. “So you’re sinning just by doing so.”

“I-” Linda sighed, realizing she was defeated. “...Fine.” She put her hands in the air. “I give up. Do whatever you want.”

“Alright. All in favor of updating the Health curriculum to fix its errors and to include monsters?” Sans asked, and everyone except Linda raised their hands. “Alright. Please bring this to the principal.” Sans asked. She glared at him.

“I...have one more thing to ask.” Sans said. “I don’t know if you saw it on the news or not, but Frisk was kidnapped outside the school a couple days ago. If any of you know where they could be, please, _please_ , tell us.” The other moms, except for Linda, looked alarmed.

“We will.” Diane said, as Helen and Carol nodded in agreement.

“Thank you.” Sans said as the meeting came to an end.

* * *

“Sheesh, that was something.” Chara said as they sat down in the car. “I didn’t expect _that_ from Linda.”

“I don’t t-think anyone did.” Alice said.

“Yeah.” Sans said, thinking. “Do you guys know where Linda went?”

“She went to meet with the principal.” Chara said. “She said she had to ask him something.”

“I wonder what took her that long.” Alice commented.

 **_Wait…_ ** Sans thought about it. **_Her clothing was very messed up when she came in, she was gone for a while, and she went to see the principal….you’ve_ ** **got** **_to be kidding me._ **

Sans sighed when he realized what was going on. **_Well, that explains why Linda is the allowed to be the president, and why the principal isn’t there._ **

“I doubt it’s important.” Sans shrugged. “But whatever.”

When they got home, a police car was in the driveway.

 **_I guess that’s Liliane._ ** Sans thought. His thought was confirmed when he entered the house.

“Hello, Sans.” Toriel greeted him.

“Heya, Tori.” Sans said. “Heya, Liliane.”

“Good evening, Mr. Dreemurr.” Liliane said. “I’ve got today’s report.”

“Alright, let’s hear it.” Sans said.

“We haven’t found Frisk yet, but we found something interesting.” Liliane held up a shirt.

“That’s Frisk’s shirt!” Sans realized as Toriel put her paw to her face.

“We found it a bit aways from one of the neighborhoods that’s near the school. It’s about a three minute drive, but probably a 30 minute walk.” Liliane explained. “We suspect that the kidnapper is still in this town.”

“Well, that’s more than we knew before.” Sans sighed, taking the shirt.

“Who’s fingerprints are on it?” Toriel demanded.

“There are Frisk’s, an unidentified one, and mine from when I picked it up.” Liliane confirmed.

“Got it. Thank you.” Sans said.

“You’re welcome.” Liliane stood up. “I’ll go looking again tomorrow.” She got up and left.

Sans’ phone went off. He went to check the text.

“That was Undyne and Paps. No dice.” Sans sighed. “They’re going to keep looking.”

“Tell them thank you.” Toriel sighed. “What happened at the PTA meeting?”

“Hey, why don’t you two start getting ready for bed?” Sans asked Chara and Alice. They both nodded and went upstairs. “Well, first off, Linda was late.”

“She was?” Toriel frowned. “But she was there with the kids who were in the play!”

“Well, apparently she left them to go talk to the principal about something. But anyways, we talked about a couple of things, namely the spring bake sale. I volunteered to bring pie, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yes, that’s fine.” Toriel nodded.

“That’s what I thought. And after that, we talked about the PTA Christmas Party that’s usually held at Linda’s house.” Sans said.  “Linda came in at that point looking desheveled. After that, Carol brought up the Health curriculum and mentioned that it didn’t include monsters, and I brought up that it only catered to people who were straight and identified with their given gender. We had a whole conversation about it where Linda was very homophobic and transphobic. She eventually gave in.”

“Did you mention Frisk?” Toriel asked.

“I did at the end. Everyone except Linda agreed to keep an eye out for them.”

“How can she do that?’ Toriel questioned. “Just sit there and let another parent suffer without their child?”

“Linda’s a horrible person.” Sans shrugged. “I also figured out why she’s president and why the principal isn’t at the meetings.”

“Really? I was wondering why myself.” Toriel said.

“Linda’s sleeping with him. In exchange, he lets her do what she wants and leaves her alone at the meetings.” Sans revealed.

“You know, I was wondering that myself. All the other parents were scared of her.” Toriel admitted. “Maybe it’s because she can easily use that influence over them.”

“Sounds like something Linda would do.”

* * *

Chara sat in their bed, watching Alice from the corner of their eye.

“I don’t understand a-any of what they’re talking about.” Alice sighed. “I don’t get it. What didn’t D-dad tell me about, Chara?” She demanded.

“I’m not the person to explain it, honestly.” Chara sighed. “We have a required health seminar we have to attend in a few weeks. They’ll explain it there.”

Alice rubbed her arms.

“I just…” She sighed. “I’m honestly far behind e-everyone on everything. I d-don’t like it.”

“That’s not your fault. It’s Paul’s fault.” Chara pointed out.

“B-but he made me f-feel like it was my f-fault!” Alice said. “Y-you don’t understand h-how it feels to be treated like that b-by someone you love!” That set Chara’s blood boiling.

“Don’t you _dare_ tell me that I don’t know how it feels to be treated badly by someone I love. My own stepmother ruined my dad’s life and killed the only other person in my life who treated me like a person. Hell, she tried to kill _me_ .” Chara snapped. “And she almost succeeded. So don’t you fucking _dare_ say that I don’t know how it feels. Because I lived through it _long_ before you were even born.” Alice looked taken aback at Chara’s tone.

“W-well, it l-looks like we’re birds o-of a f-feather, then.” Alice retorted.

“Doubt it.” Chara countered.

“Excuse you.” Alice snapped. “Y-you know what? Y-you’re right. A-apparently, you’re o-over it. After a-all, it _did_ h-happen so long ago for **you.** B-but for me, it ended two weeks ago. S-so give me a b-br-break, okay?” Chara was about to start again, but saw the tears in Alice’s eyes, and realized how close she was to crying.

Instead, they hugged her, which made her pause in shock. Chara was surprised too. They didn’t like to be touched or anything, let alone hugged.

And then, Chara felt Alice start to sob, and let her tears just flow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to ask me things in the comments. It can be about anything about the story, but I may or may not answer depending on if it turns out to be spoilers.  
> Thank you for reading =)


	40. Confessions of the Abused part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice and Chara chat, and Toriel worries about the baby...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ
> 
> Normally I don't do trigger warnings but here you go: Trigger warning for self-harm.
> 
> Enjoy~

Chapter 40

 

_Charlotte sat, reading a book as she watched Daddy and her new stepmom walk in and out of the house. She was interested at the woman. She had blonde and brown, kinky-curly hair and tanned skin, and wore a short blue dress that hugged her body. Charlotte pretended to read her book- The History of the World- as she studied her. Meredith caught Charlotte’s eye several times, and Charlotte quickly went back to reading her book. The book was an interesting one, talking about creatures called ‘monsters’ and magic, but of course Charlotte knew that it was simply fiction. Magic wasn’t real._

_Right?_

_“Aww, you must be little Charlotte.” Charlotte looked up into her stepmother’s bright blue eyes. “I’m your new stepmother. My name is Meredith.”_

_“Hewwo Mewedith.” Charlotte smiled. Meredith frowned for a second, and then smiled again, standing up._

_“Can’t pronounce her R’s or L’s?” She asked Daddy, who laughed._

_“That’s my Lottie.” He picked her up. “She’s only 3, after all. She’ll learn.”_

_“I guess she will.” Meredith shrugged as her eyes flashed with an emotion unfamiliar to Charlotte. Charlotte tilted her head._

_“Well, I’ll leave you two to get aquainted while I go to continue filing some papers, then we can go and start to discuss our marriage.” Daddy smiled and left. As soon as the door shut, Meredith’s smile diappeared._

_“So, Charlotte, is it?” Meredith asked._

_“Yes it is!” Charlotte smiled._

_“Alrighty then, Charlotte.” Meredith said. “Let’s work on our pronunciation.”_

_“Pra-nun-thee-athun?” Charlotte frowned._

_“No!” Meredith snapped, to Charlotte’s surprise. “Pro-nun-see-ayshon.”_

_“Pronunciation.” Charlotte repeated, as Meredith smiled._

_“That’s right.” Meredith nodded. “Now, let’s work on those R’s and L’s.”_

_“Aws and Ews.” Charlotte said._

_“R.” Meredith said firmly, grabbing Charlotte tighter._

_“Awr?” Charlotte frowned._

_“R.” Meredith’s voice became cold. Charlotte was scared all of a sudden._

_“R-r?” Charlotte felt as though she were about to cry._

_“That’s better.” Meredith smiled as she walked upstairs and into Daddy’s office. “Darling! Do you mind if I take Charlotte to get some ice cream?” Charlotte felt better._

**_Ice cw-cream? That sounds amazing!_ **

_“That’s fine, go ahead.” He said._

_“I’m sorry I almost made you cry, Charlotte.” Meredith said. “I’m only doing it because I know what’s best for you. Do you understand?”_

_“Yes, I undew-understand.” Charlotte corrected herself._

_“Good.” Meredith pulled out of the garage._

* * *

Chara sighed, pulling themselves out of their first memory of Meredith and back into reality, which was an emotionally unstable Alice crying into their shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I-it’s just…” Alice said through her tears. “I-I hide the pain. You know? I d-don’t want other people to just see me as a v-victim, I want them to see me as Alice.”

“I understand.” Chara sighed. “I was the same way.”

“But I don’t know w-who Alice is. I’ve just been hiding beneath my Dad’s shadow.” Alice admitted. “Even i-if I wanted to, I couldn’t escape. But now…”

“You have to face who you are.” Chara finished her sentence.

“Exactly.” Alice rubbed her arms. “I...I have a c-couple things to say.” She sighed and rolled up her sleeves to reveal ace bandages covering them up and down, and as Chara grabbed them to take a closer look, they saw in the dim light that they were stained with a deep color.

 **_Blood…_ ** Chara felt their own turn to ice.

“When my dad used to leave the h-house for work or whatever, I would use that time to bake or do some things. I would never leave the house, though. I tr-tried it once.” Alice looked away. “It didn’t end well. But anyways, one day, I-I was cooking, and I accidentally cut my finger. I felt the pain, but for s-some reason, it resonated with me.” Alice paused, and continued rubbing her arms as she pulled them away from Chara.

“I...cut my upper arm. I knew at that point that c-cutting my wrist would result in death, and I didn’t want to d-die. I was 8 years old. Even if the r-rest of my life was like this, I didn’t want to end my o-own life. It hurt, it really did. But...it gave me a s-sense of control over something, you know?” Alice started crying again. “Pretty soon, I was leaving marks all over my arms. I wore l-long sleeves and bandages all the time. One day, my dad caught me. He yelled at me and t-threatened to send me to a mental hospital. I think it was that that c-caused him to enroll me in public school.” Alice admitted. Chara looked at her in surprise.

“Alice...I…” Chara couldn’t find the words. Alice pulled her sleeves down and looked away, grasping her right arm tightly.

“I’ve made extra sure to n-not get caught cutting after that. The last time I c-cut was shortly before Dad attacked me.” Alice said. “About an hour before, exactly. W-when Dad attacked me and made...t-that mark...in my back, it just made me realize I’m hiding from my problems with a kn-knife. I haven’t done it since.”

“If you don’t mind me asking…” Chara said. “What exactly did your dad mark on your back.” Alice sighed and turned around, pulling her shirt down to reveal the horrible scar;

It was roughly cut, scarred over, but it was clear what the word was:

 **_MISTAKE._ ** Chara held their hand to their mouth in horror. **_It seems like she went through worse than I did._ **

“If you don’t mind _me_ asking, w-what did your stepmom do?” Alice asked.

“When I was little, she constantly belittled me and corrected my speech angrily. After my dad was arrested, she got worse.” Chara was thrown back into another memory as they told it to Alice.

* * *

_It was a beautiful day out. Charlotte woke up in her nightgown at the age of 4. She heard a commotion downstairs. She quickly made her bed and seeing that Meredith was still asleep, she skipped dressing and ran downstairs to see an open door. Confused, she walked through it and saw a horrible sight._

_Her Daddy was being talked to by a man, while two more held him down. The man in front of him nodded, and the other two walked him to a police car nearby._

_Charlotte was crying as she watched those men take her Daddy away._

_“Excuse me, why are you putting D-my father under arrest?” She demanded, with the elegance and speech of a royal. It had been trained in her so long, she no longer knew what else to say._

_“Sorry, dearie, but your father committed a horrible, horrible crime. I’m sure your mother will tell you when you’re older.” The policeman promised._

_“C-can I please say goodbye to him?” Charlotte asked. The policeman nodded and rolled down the window._

_“Daddy!” Charlotte forgot all manners as she cried, reaching through the open window to hug him._

_“My little Lottie.” He said weakly. “I didn’t want you to see me like this. I’m...afraid that I must leave you. I promise I’ll see you again one day.”_

_“You promise?” Charlotte asked. He smiled and kissed her forehead._

_“I promise.” He said, waving as he drove off, leaving Charlotte with her stepmother. Charlotte froze as she felt Meredith’s cold, hard hand on her._

_“Charlotte, dearie, why are you not dressed more girly?” Meredith asked. Charlotte frowned at the word. Somehow, she never quite felt ‘right’ when being referred to as such._

_Maybe she just hated dresses?_

_“Ma’am, I just woke up.” Charlotte explained._

_“Well, that doesn’t excuse your behavior! And how DARE you speak to me like that!” Meredith snapped, her curly hair bouncing._

_“I-I’m sorry…” Charlotte flinched._

_“‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry!’.” Meredith mocked her. “That fixes nothing. Inside,_ now _.” Charlotte ran inside._

_“You stupid brat.’ Meredith muttered as she locked the door. “Remember rule number 23.”_

_“Always go out if and only if you are dressed for the part.” Charlotte repeated._

_“And now, it’s time to punish you.” Meredith dragged Charlotte into the kitchen._

_“P-punish?” Charlotte asked._

_“You broke a rule. It’s time for you to be punished.” Meredith grabbed a sharp looking knife and handed it to a confused Charlotte. “Roll up your sleeve.” Charlotte did so, frowning._

_“You are going to cut your arm until I tell you to stop. Understood? Do_ not _cut your wrist.” Meredith ordered as Charlotte’s face went pale._

_“B-but the knife hurts!” Charlotte objected._

_“Are you talking back to me?” Meredith raised an eyebrow._

_“N-no.” Charlotte sighed and put the knife to a bit above her wrist._

_“And don’t. Scream.” Meredith said as Charlotte cut the first cut and immediately bit her lip. The pain was unimaginable! It felt like a horrible, deep sting, and then Charlotte felt faint at the blood rolling down her arm. She hesitated for a second._

_“Did I tell you to stop?” Meredith yelled._

_“N-no…” Charlotte whispered as she moved her knife up a bit and sliced again. She bit back tears as the pain doubled. She looked at Meredith for mercy, but saw nothing but cold, hard, hatred. Tears slid down her face as she made a third cut. Then a forth. She was shaking horribly when she made the fifth cut. She could barely make the next few cuts. She looked to Meredith._

_“You’re not done.” Meredith said. “Do your other arm, now.” Charlotte shook as she felt tears streaming down her face, as well as blood streaming down her arms, as she repeated her punishment on the other arm._

_“Alright, you’re done.” Meredith said, taking the knife. “Go get cleaned up.”_

_“Thank you.” Charlotte bowed as she was trained to do, and walked quickly up the stairs to clean up her cuts._

* * *

 

Alice looked at Chara, absolutely shell shocked.

“Wow...I…” Alice looked away.

“Thing are different now. Meredith’s gone, probably either in prison or dead.” Chara said. “I...still have the marks from it. For some reason, my body remained the way it was when I died.”

Alice looked away.

“Things are different.” Chara repeated. “We’re not in danger anymore.”

“I k-know that.” Alice said. “It’s just…”

“It’s hard to get your head away from it.” Chara said. “It took me a long time to get my head around the fact that I wasn’t living with Meredith anymore.”

Alice nodded. “I still can’t b-believe that I’m here, that you’re my sibling now.”

“Speaking of siblings.” Chara said. “Hold on a second.” Chara took a breath and thought about Frisk. They hadn’t felt anything from Frisk in a while. They felt down, deep within, and felt Frisk.

“They’re not as scared as they were before, but they’re sad.” Chara said. “I can’t tell where they are, though.”

“Well, at least they’re not scared.” Alice pointed out.

“That’s good. I wonder where they are.” Chara wondered.

* * *

Toriel held her paw to her chest, a worried expresssion on her face.

“Tori? You okay?” Sans asked.

“I’m fine.” Toriel said. “It’s just, the baby. I’m more mood-swingy and it’s Soul is moving around much more than Asriel’s was.”

“Is that bad?” Sans asked.

“I have no idea. We can ask Alphys, but…” Toriel frowned.

“I’ll call her. I think you should ask for maternity leave, though.” Sans said.

“...I agree.” Toriel sighed.

“Alright. I just don’t want anything bad to happen with the baby or you.” Sans said.

“I know that.” Toriel nodded.

Meanwhile, Flowey looked on, listening to their conversation, and almost wilting from sadness.

 **_Why am I sad? I am a soulless being._ ** He wondered. **_I can’t feel anything! I didn’t when I killed everyone! So why now…?_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to ask me things =)  
> If I answer with =), it means that it's a spoiler. I can't confirm or deny it.  
> Also, if any of you have fanart, go ahead and let me know!  
> I'm thinking of starting to update Sundays and Wednesdays, but I'll have to wait until school starts and see how much time I have.  
> Thank you for reading! See you next time!
> 
> ~Skater


	41. Mall Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mall day with Alex, Chara, and Alice. Chara and Alex get in an argument, and Chara starts to suspect someone new in the kidnapping of Frisk.

Chapter 41

 

“Hey, Alex.” Chara greeted the boy as they walked up to him after school. He was looking at something on his Ipad. 

“Oh, h-hey Chara.” He said, shutting the Ipad off. Before he could, Chara caught a glimpse of a colorful banner at the top of the article.

**_I wonder what he was reading?_ **

“So, what do you guys want to do?” Chara asked both him and Alice.

“I-I don’t know, whatever you guys want to.” Alex shrugged, scratching his head.

“Is the f-fair still open?” Alice asked.

“I don’t think so.” Chara shook their head. “We can go Christmas shopping.”

“Christmas shopping?” Alice frowned.   
“We go shopping for presents to give people for Christmas.” Chara explained. “I have some money, we can shop.”

“I’m in.” Alice shrugged.

“We just have to let Dunkle Sans know.” Chara said. “Don’t want him thinking we got kidnapped as well.” Alice chuckled despite the dark nature of the joke.

After the events of the previous evening, the two kids had gotten closer. Almost like best friends, which suprised the both of them, considering neither of them had had friends while they lived with their parents.

Chara quickly texted Sans and put away their phone. “Do you need to ask your mom?”

“I don’t care what Mom thinks anymore about what I do.” Alex shrugged, which surprised the both of them. “I’ll text her, but she can’t stop me.”

“Really?” Chara frowned.

“What happened to A-alex? Who is this, Chara?” Alice joked.

“Ha ha.” Alex rolled his eyes. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Chara took in the sight of the trees and the Christmas music playing. They sighed, trying to recall it from when they were younger, but could only remember the similar holiday they celebrated in the Underground. What they enjoyed even more was watching it unfold in Alice’s eyes.

Alice gasped at all the green and red, and the Santa in the center of the mall. She took in the music playing, the children running around, the chaos of parents as they hurried after them, carrying bags upon bags of various items. They stopped by a small kiosk that was handing out candy canes, and Alice’s eyes lit up at the taste.

“Alright, so where should we go first?” Chara asked, breaking Alice out of her trance.

“Um, I don’t know.” Alice frowned. “D-do they sell clothing here?”

“They do.” Chara said. “Do you mind if we go?” They asked Alex.

“Not at all.” Alex shrugged as the three walked off towards a clothing store. Chara and Alice looked through the clothing, Alice’s eyes lighting up at all the clothes. She picked out an oversized t-shirt.

“Hey, I’m going to try this on.” Alice said.   
“Alright, one sec.” Chara said as them and Alex headed towards the dressing rooms, Alex and Chara lingering outside. Alice came out a minute later with the dress tied in a way so that it looked like a dress. She wore her shirt underneath so that her arms were covered, but it still looked adorable on her petite body.

“How do you do that?” Alex asked, blinking.

“You just t-tie it like this.” Alice explained, untying it to show that she stepped into the top of it, and then she tied it back. Alex watched her.

“That’s cool.” Alex said. “Really quick, what are you guys going to get Toriel and Sans?”

“I have no idea.” Chara admitted. “I was going to get Frisk some pens and a drawing pad, though.”

“I’m not sure either.” Alice said. “I didn’t e-even know about Christmas until yesterday.”

“Oh.” Alex frowned. “I’m trying to decide what to get Jimmy and Mom and Dad.” Chara frowned.

“Well, let’s just look around.” Chara suggested. After Alice bought the t-shirt, they walked around the mall some more.

“I kind of want to get Mom something for the baby.” Chara said. “As for Sans, I have no idea what to get.”

“And don’t forget, we have the white elephant party as well.” Alex reminded them.

“Oh crap!” Chara remembered. “What should we get for that?”

And so they ended up buying eyeliner and a small eyeshadow pallette.

“Watch, Jimmy’s going to get this.” Chara muttered as Alex chuckled. “Alright, what’s next?”

“Um, how about we try to f-find baby stuff?” Alice suggested.

“Alright. Maybe we’ll find something for everyone.” Chara said as they entered a small store and successfully found some pacifiers and some baby bottles, as well as a 6-pack of ketchup and Frisk’s pencils and drawing pads.

“What kind of store sells baby stuff  _ and  _ ketchup?” Chara wondered out loud.

“Maybe it’s better n-not to question it.” Alice shrugged.

“That seems to be the right answer with most stuff.” Alex added.

“That’s true.” Chara shrugged. “Well, I’ve got my stuff. What else do you guys want to do here?”

“They have food, right?” Alice asked. Chara laughed. 

“Of course!” They said as the three went to the only monster-run restaurant in the food court- a version of Grillby’s run by a cousin of Grillby’s. Chara didn’t know her name, but she was a bright green flame.

“Can we get some fries?” Chara asked. “What do you guys want?”

“I’ll have a burger and fries.” Alex said. 

“I’ll have fries.” Alice said. A few minutes later, they all sat down with their food.

“So, what were you guys planning on getting?” Chara asked. “I know I already asked that, but…”

“Well, I might get Jimmy a gift card to his favorite store. I might just get Mom a set of those fancy wine glasses.” Alex said. 

“Well, I’m not sure what I-I’m going to get Toriel and Sans.” Alice sighed. Chara frowned, trying to get to see what was going on in her head. “I had something else in my mind that I saw for...someone else…”

“Someone else?” Chara frowned. Alex looked confused as well. Then, Chara got it.

“You don’t have to.” Chara said. “He doesn’t deserve it.”

“I know that.” Alice snapped. She sighed, looking guilty. “It’s just...h-he’s still family, you know?”

“I understand. Despite everything, he’s still your family. You still care about him.” Chara said quietly. Alex looked confused still. “But think about it this way; He’s not going to return the favor. The way he treated you proves that.”

“I guess y-you’re right.” Alice admitted.

“Today’s a good day. Let’s talk about this later.” Chara said.

“What are you two talking about?” Alex asked.

“Nothing.” Chara and Alice said at the same time. Chara had to admit, they felt bad leaving Alex out of it. They just weren’t sure he’d understand.

“I think I know what I w-want to get for Toriel and Sans now.” Alice said. “I think I saw it a f-few stores back.”

“Alright, let’s go back and get it.” Chara said. “But first, let’s finish eating.”

“That’s one thing I can agree with.” Alex said.

* * *

An hour later, Chara teleported them back to their room after they all finished shopping.

“I can hide our presents in the closet.” Chara offered, taking Alice’s bags.

“Oh, thank you.” Alice said.

“Yours too.” Chara said to Alex.

“That sounds good.” Alex said, sitting down on Frisk’s bed and pulling back out his Ipad. “Sorry, I got an email.”

“It’s fine.”  **_Hey, maybe I should ask him what he was looking at earlier._ **

“Hey, what were you looking at earlier?” Chara asked.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked defensively.

“You were looking at some sort of article.” Chara frowned.

“No, I wasn’t.” He retorted.

“Why are you being defensive?” Chara demanded.

“Oh, I’m sorry, you’re the one attacking me!” Alex snapped.

“I never attacked you, I was just curious.” Chara shot.

“Well, it’s none of your business!” Alex growled. Chara could tell Alice was uncomfortable.

“Stop yelling.” Chara said. “We can resolve this maturely, or we can drop the subject for now.”

“Well, it looks like we’re dropping the subject then.” Alex glared at Chara.

**_What the hell is going on in his head?_** **_He’s being such an asshole right now!_**

“Want me to show you the bathroom? So that I can dunk you in the toilet like the piece of shit you’re being?” Chara deadpanned.

“That was uncalled for.” Alex retorted.

“No, what’s uncalled for is you being so damn defensive.” Chara said. 

“And it’s also uncalled for you to poke into my personal business.” Alex countered. Chara glared at him.

“Um, I’ll be downstairs…” Alice got up slowly and walked out.

“Alice doesn’t like yelling.” Chara said after the door closed.

“Well, she doesn’t have to be here.” Alex retorted.

“What the  _ fuck _ is going on with you?” Chara demanded. “It’s almost like I’m talking to Jimmy!”

“Well, maybe I just like to have my own secrets.” Alex retorted.

**_I can’t argue with that…_ **

“That’s not what I have an issue with.” Chara countered. “It’s that you’re being so  _ damn _ defensive about it!”

“Whatever.” Alex sighed. “Let’s not talk about this again.”

“...fine.” Chara glared at him.

“I think I should leave now.” Alex said stifly, getting up and walking out the door. Chara sighed and walked downstairs, meeting Alice.

“What is going on with him? He’s just being so rude.” Chara complained.

“Yeah.” Alice sighed. “Today was f-fun other than that, though.”

“It was.” Chara agreed.

“What did you guys do?” They both turned to see Flowey on the table.

“We went to the mall and got Christmas presents.” Chara said.

“Oh.” Flowey frowned.

“Hey, where’s mom and Sans?” Chara asked.

“They went to ask Alphys about the baby. They’re worried about it, what with Frisk being kidnapped and all that.” Flowey explained.

“The stress?” Chara asked.

“Yeah…” Flowey looked away. “I wish I had asked Frisk to hold me. Then maybe I could have done something to help them.”

“It’s not y-your fault, Flowey.” Alice said.

“Yeah, it’s not.” Chara agreed, rubbing their arm again. It had started hurting slightly again, although they had just assumed it was from…

**_Hold on._ ** Chara thought.  **_Let me think about this. Maybe this is Frisk being hurt?_ **

They winced at that. They didn’t want to think about the sweet, pacifist Frisk being hurt.

**_It’s the only thing that makes sense though! And now that I think about it, they’ve been feeling uncomfortable...maybe their kidnapper is misgendering them? Although I’m more concerned about them being hurt. Now, the only reason I can think of for anyone to kidnap is revenge or money, and I think anyone who would risk kidnapping Frisk wants money. After all, it’s not good to anger monsters._ **

Chara tilted their head.

**_Wait, angering monsters…_ **

And that led to one person they could think of.

“Linda!” Chara burst out, surprising both Alice and Flowey.

“What about Linda?” Flowey asked.

“I think I know who kidnapped Frisk!” Chara exclaimed. The girl and the flower both looked at them in shock.

“Wait, what?” They both asked.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense.” Chara explained. “Linda hates us. She would do it as revenge.”

“Not possible.” Flowey shook his head.

“What?” It was Chara’s turn to be surprised.

“Linda was in school when we left. We passed by her on the way to leave the school.” Flowey explained.

“Well, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t invlolved in it.” Chara retorted. “For all we know, they could be at her house.”

“That’s true.” Flowey admitted.

“I’m going to ask Alex if we can co-” Chara went to grab their phone.

“Don’t text him.” Alice shook her head. “This is something w-we should say in p-person.”

“You’re right.” Chara sighed. “I’m just going to ask if his mom’s home.”

* * *

Chara: Hey, I’m sorry about earlier

Alex: It’s fine.

Chara: Is your mom home?

Alex: No? Why?

Chara: No reason. See you in a few.

* * *

“She’s gone.” Chara reported. “Let’s go.”

Chara grabbed Flowey and Alice, and teleported to a couple blocks over, where he lived. They knocked on the door and Alex opened it.

“What are you guys doing here?” Alex asked. “How did you even know where my house is?”

“You told us a while back, when we were working on the science fair project.” Chara explained.

“Oh yeah.” He said sheepishly. “But why are you here?”

“We think Linda was involved with Frisk’s kidnapping.” Chara explained.

“What?” Alex looked at them, shocked. “Is that why you wanted to know if Mom was home?”

“That, and also that she hates me.” Chara shrugged.

“Okay, come in.” Alex said, closing the door after Alice and Chara came in. “Oh, you brought Flowey.”

“Yes they did.” Flowey nodded. “Is anyone else home?”   
“Jimmy is, but he’s upstairs.” Alex said. “Why do you think my mom was involved?”

“Well, she has a good motive. She hates our family. Plus she was gone for so long after rehearsal yesterday, for all we know, she could be doing something to Frisk. My arm’s been hurting, and it’s because Frisk has been hurt. It was hurting while Linda was gone.” Chara said. Alex looked uncomfortable.

“Um, that’s…” He looked away.

“What?” Chara asked.

“Based on what you told me, there’s no way she could be the kidnapper or even be involved.” Alex said.


	42. Realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara finds out why Linda can't be the kidnapper, Liliane finds more evidence, and Chara comes to a realization.

Chapter 42

 

“What? How do you know?” Chara demanded.

“Well, she’s been spending a  _ lot _ of time with the principal…” Alex said. Chara tilted their head, but then got it. They weren’t surprised. “Anything that might interfere with that, she would never do.” He continued.

“What does that h-have to do with anything?” Alice asked. Alex and Chara looked at each other.

“I mean, if she’s just talking with h-him, she could still have time to get to Frisk.” Alice pointed out. “And that doesn’t prove that she wasn’t involved.”

“You’re an innocent one, aren’t you?” The three turned to the stairs to see Jimmy holding an Ipad. “Interesting read, by the way, Alex.” He commented as he walked down.

“Hey! Give that back!” Alex jumped at him and took the Ipad.

“Confirmed all of my suspicions. Of course.” Jimmy shrugged. “Anyways, back to Mom. She still thinks we don’t know.” Alex looked away. 

“Know what?” Alice asked.

“That she’s been fucking the principal behind Dad’s back.” Jimmy shrugged.

“F-fucking?” Alice seemed to be unaware of the meaning.

“Sheesh, you would have thought you’d know that by now.” Jimmy shrugged. “Well, anyways, she’s been doing the principal.”

“It’s how she gets the teachers to give Jimmy good grades.” Alex explained. Jimmy looked surprised. “She went to the teachers and promised them a raise if they gave Jimmy good grades, and then she, um, ‘does the do’ with the principal, and in return he gives the teachers raises.”

“Well, they don’t anymore.” Jimmy said, blinking.

**_He didn’t know?_ **

“Anyways, it sucks because Dad’s been stuck working overtime everyday because Mom has expensive taste and he wants to buy everything or her.” Chara suddenly felt a new layer of hatred for Linda.

“That bitch.” Chara muttered.

“It gets worse.” Jimmy pulled out a book. “Go ahead and read it, I’m not going to read stuff you don’t want known.”   
“How did you-” Alex started.

“Next time, don’t leave it on your bed. You’re lucky I got to it before Mom did.” Jimmy said. Alex’s face paled.

“Thank you.” Alex muttered as he opened the book. 

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘before Mom did’?” Chara asked. Jimmy looked at them in annoyance.

“Of course that skeleton and that goat never did.” Jimmy muttered. “Mom goes through our rooms and reads anything that we leave out. She’ll take it if it has witchcraft or anything to do with being gay or transgender.”

“And if it’s particularly bad, she’ll confront us about it.” Alex added.

“Yeah. My d-dad did that too.” Alice said.

“Meredith…” Chara muttered under their breath.

**_She did that too…_ **

“What was that?’ Alex asked.

“Nothing.” Chara said quickly. They didn’t want to relive everything again. 

“Well, I’ve had this since I was really little. I’ve kept it hidden from Mom this entire time.” Alex said. “I have here a memoir about her. When I was 3 or 4, I wanted to do ballet, but she said it wasn’t for little boys and put the two of us in soccer.”

“So, gender roles.” Chara sighed.

“Yep. Never understood that.” Alex shrugged. “She tried to explain it as ballet was a girl sport and soccer was a boy sport, but I never saw it that way. Did you?” He asked Jimmy.

“Not really. I just went along with what Mom said.” Jimmy shrugged.

“To me they were just activities.” Alex shrugged. “But anyways, Mom really never let us be what we wanted to be. She just filled us to fill molds of what model children should be so that she could have the ‘perfect, model family’.”

“It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t what  _ we _ wanted.” Jimmy said. “I’m not going to say it was stolen from us, because it wasn’t. We had a childhood. It was just kind of lead by-”

“Please do us a favor and shut up.” Chara snapped. Jimmy looked taken aback. “Anyways, what else about Linda?”

“She always goes on about Jamal’s moms. She talks about how being gay is a choice, and how God makes everyone perfect, and how she doesn’t understand why anyone would be gay.” Alex said. “It’s not a choice. It’s how they’re born.”

“Exactly.” Chara nodded. “So is identifying as a different gender than you were born with.”

“Yep.” Jimmy said, casually leaning on Alex.

“Lay off.” Alex muttered, pushing Jimmy off of him.

Chara’s ears perked up at the sound of something unlocking.

“Alex, can you hide us?” Chara asked. “I can hear the door unlocking.”

“Mom’s home! Guys, come upstairs.” Alex led the two and Flowey upstairs and hid them under the bed. “She doesn’t look here.”

“Alex! Jimmy! I’m home!” Linda called out.

“Coming, mom!” Alex yelled back. Chara could see Linda walk up the stairs and stand in the doorway.

“Alex, what’s that?” Linda asked.   
“Oh, it’s an assignment for school.” Alex lied.

“Let me see it.” Linda said.

“I-it’s secret. I can’t.” Alex pulled it away from her.

“I am your mother, Alexander Walkins. Let me see.” Linda went to grab it. From what Chara could see, he jumped away from her and shoved it in his pants. Chara had to stifle a giggle.

“Come on Alex, in your pants?” Linda complained. “Sheesh, it’s bad enough that I had to deal with that stupid kid going missing, and now this?” Chara perked up.

“What kid?” Alex asked.

“Who else? Frisk Dreemurr. She ran off and got kidnapped during my class, and so now I have to submit to an interview.” Linda rolled her eyes.

“They got kidnapped during your class?” Alex asked.

“Yes, she did. I don’t know why everyone plays along with her.” Linda sighed. “Both of them. Frisk and Chara. Why does everyone refer to the two of them with those pronouns?”

“Because that’s how they want to be refered to as?” Alex pointed out.

“Honestly, you’re hanging out with those two girls too much.” Linda said pointedly. “Even if you don’t hang out with them outside of school.” Alex frowned.

“Sorry mom.”

“It’s fine, I understand that you’re friends with them.” Linda hugged him. “I just don’t want you to turn into one of them. You understand, right?”

“Yes, mom.” Alex nodded.

“Would you like some ice cream? I got some on the way home.” Linda said.

“Sounds good, I’ll meet you downstairs.” Alex said as Linda left. “Alright, you guys can come out now.”  Chara climbed out from under the bed.

“So, Linda wasn’t involved.” Chara sighed.

“Doesn’t sound like it.” Alex shrugged. “I told you.”

“And you were right.” Chara reluctantly admitted. “Wait, where’d your book go?” They realized that Linda must have taken it, because it wasn’t in his pants.

Alex looked into his pants. “It’s right here.” He walked over to his bed and pulled it out from under the pillow.

“What? Then what did you put into your pants?” Chara asked.

“I put my Ipad.” He explained.

“Smart.” Chara commented.

“You guys should probably go before she comes back.” Alex said.

“Alright, let’s go.” Chara grabbed Flowey and Alice and teleported out.

* * *

“So, Linda’s out.” Chara sighed, setting Flowey down on Frisk’s desk.

“Told ya.” Flowey retorted.

“What now?” Alice asked.

“We have to try to figure out who else it could be.” Chara said. “We have a issue now, though.”

“What issue?” Alice frowned.

“Well, firstly, we had a motive for Linda to kidnap Frisk. Now that we know she didn’t, that changes everything. Frisk could be anywhere in the city.” Chara explained, and laid down on the bed in exasperation.

“And anyone c-could have taken them?”

“Exactly.” Chara groaned. “Not to mention, that officer found Frisk’s shirt. Which means that anything could have happened to them.” Alice tilted her head, obviously confused.

“Didn’t your mom ever go over with you about stranger danger?” Chara asked. Alice thought back.

“Well, I think so...but actually, D-dad told me the most about that.”

“Really?” Chara was shocked.

“He explained that the reason why he never let me out was b-because there were people who wanted to hurt me for no good reason. He said they would just use me and then kill me.” Alice said. “I don’t understand what he meant by ‘use’ me, because he never explained.”

“He meant inappropriately.” Chara explained.

“Oh.” Alice decided not to press further, to Chara’s relief.

“If they found Frisk’s shirt, that means that someone could have done that to them. Or worse.” Chara clenched their fists. “We need to find them. Immediately.”

“Well, let’s go.” Alice stood up. “We can go look near the s-school and see if we can find that officer. L-liliane, was it?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Chara opened the door to see the officer. “Speak of the devil.”

“Hello! Is your father home?” Liliane asked.

“Nope, but I can relay the message to him.” Chara said.

“Well, we still haven’t found Frisk. But we’re still looking for her.” Liliane said. “We found her glasses in the pond at the school, though.” 

“Alright, thank you.” Chara nodded, deciding that finding Frisk was more important than correcting the misgendering.

“You know...I was wondering where I saw Frisk before, because she looked familiar to me.” Liliane said. “I just realized it. Frisk is a bit older than Clarisse and a lot taller, but they look similar. Although Clarisse didn’t need glasses.”

“Really?” Chara frowned. “Do you have a picture of her?”

“Right here.” Liliane pulled out her wallet and showed a picture of a little girl with her hair in pigtails and a poofy pink dress.

**_She’s right. That does look similar to Frisk._ **

“Clarisse was such a sweet little girl.” Liliane commented. “He really missed out.” SHe added under her breath.

“Who?” Chara asked.

“No one.” Liliane said quickly. “Well, I’m going to go look for more clues.”

“Alright, thank you, Liliane!” Chara said as she left. “Well, I guess that settles that. Let’s wait for Sans and Mom to get home.”

Alice sat down at the table.

“I’m honestly really worried about Frisk.” Chara said. “It’s getting harder and harder to tell what their feelings are.”

“Tell their feelings?” Alice frowned as Chara rustled in the fridge for chocolate.

“Yeah. We split off the same Soul. We can feel each other’s feelings.”

“Well, there must be a reason. Maybe it’s b-because you’re not close to them?” Alice suggested. Chara paused.

“Alice.”

“W-what?” Alice looked nervous.

“I can’t say how much I love you right now. You’re a goddamn  _ genius _ !” Chara smiled.

“What d-do you mean?” Alice asked.   
“I think you’re right. It gets stronger the closer I am to Frisk.” Chara explained. “So do you know what that means?”   
“No?” Alice frowned.

“It means we have a fairly accurate tracker.” Chara smiled. “Maybe my arm was just a sting because Frisk’s arm was hurt.”

“Oh yeah!” Alice smiled.

“We need to tell Sans.” Chara said.

“Tell me what?” Sans popped in.

“Two things. One, Liliane just popped in. She found Frisk’s glasses in the pond by the school.” Chara said.

“Alright, that’s good.” Sans nodded.

“And two, Alice figured out something. You know how Frisk and I have shared feelings?”

“Yes.”

“Well, she figured out that they get harder to depict the farther away Frisk is. So if Frisk is close by, I can feel their emotions faster.”

“That’s good to know.” Sans nodded. “Hey, maybe we should go looking for them.”

“We should try it out.” Chara agreed. They got up. “You’re welcome to come if you want, Alice.”

“I would like to, b-but I already have plans. I’m helping Toriel make something.” Alice said.

“Alright. Tell Toriel that we went out looking.” Sans said as the two got up and left.

* * *

“Okay, so firstly, what way can you feel them the most if you go looking?” Sans asked. Chara turned a couple of directions before saying, “That way.”

“Towards the school?” Sans said. “Alright, let’s go looking.” They walked towards the school and Chara tried to figure out something to talk about.

“You know, I found out where Linda went when she ditched us all after rehearsal.” Chara said. “She went to go have ‘affairs’ with the principal.”

“Yeah, I guessed.” Sans nodded.

“Alex and Jimmy told me.” Chara explained. “I went over to their house to ask them about Linda, because it occurred to me that Linda might have kidnapped Frisk.” Chara paused. “Wait, it got longer to tell their emotions again.”

“Alright, let’s go back to where you can feel them a bit better.” Sans said. They walked back a few houses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, you guys can go ahead and ask me stuff, and I'll respond to you in the comments!
> 
> See you on Sunday~


	43. Dinnertime?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a failed search for Frisk, Sans decides to get some answers from Liliane. Meanwhile, Chara and Alice get a babysitting gig, and Chara sees something strange...

Chapter 43

 

“That’s better. Let’s cross the street.” Chara said, teleporting across along with Sans. “Jimmy said that Linda didn’t know that they know, but she’s having an affair with the principal.” They explained. “I also found out that Linda did not take Frisk, as she was complaining about having to go in for an interview even though she had nothing to do with it.”

“How did you get to hear her?” Sans asked.

“Alex hid us.” Chara explained. 

“Smart of him.” Sans nodded. “Well, if Linda didn’t do it, then who could have?”

“Could it have been Paul?” Chara blurt out.

“I doubt it.” Sans’s eyes went dark at the thought of Paul kidnapping his child. “He’s under maximum security. There’s no way he can escape.”

“There’s no one else I can think of who could have done it.” Chara said.

“Well, we’re going to have to find someone.” Sans sighed. “Liliane found their shirt and their glasses here, they must still be in town somewhere.”

“Speaking of Liliane, she told me something interesting. Apparently, her daughter Clarisse looked a lot like Frisk does, only without glasses.” Chara commented.

“That  _ is _ interesting.” Sans wondered why Liliane mentioned that. “I’m going to have to ask her about that. Anything?” Chara paused.

“That’s weird.” Chara frowned. “I can’t feel them at all anymore.”

“You can’t?” Sans asked. Chara shook their head.

“They must have fallen asleep. I can’t feel them when they’re asleep.”

“...That’s fine. We can go look again later.” Sans sighed. “Let’s head home.”

* * *

 

“Toriel, I have a question to ask.” Sans said.

“Yes?” Toriel asked.

“How open would you be to going out to dinner with Liliane?”

* * *

 

The next evening, Toriel and Sans were waiting for Liliane and her date at a nice restaurant that served exclusively monster food. Sans had invited her out on a double date to get to know her a bit better, and to ask about Clarisse, and Toriel had agreed. The restaurant was crowded, but they still were seated quickly. 

“Good evening, you two!” The dog waiter smiled as big as he could. “I’ll be waiting on you guys tonight.”

**_He’s definitely looking for a tip._ **

“Sounds good.” Sans smiled. “Or should I say,  _ doggone  _ good.” The waiter’s laugh was obviously forced. 

“What would you two want to drink?”

“Just water, please.” Toriel said.

“Some ketchup, please.” Sans asked.

“Alright…” The waiter said, writing it down. “Well, I’ll go get your drinks.” he left.

“So, what are you going to order?” Sans asked Toriel.

“Probably the filet mignon.” Toriel said.

“I’ll have that too.” Sans nodded. “Welp, it’s 7:35. She’s a bit late.”

“I don’t blame her. I mean,we were running late too.” Toriel pointed out.

“True.” Sans said.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry I’m late!” They both looked up at the woman’s voice. Liliane wore a dress that came to her knees in length, and covered her chest, although it was fitted and low cut in the back. Her hair was down and curled, all the way down to her lower back. “I didn’t get off shift until about 45 minutes ago.”

“It’s fine.” Sans assured her. She sat down and picked up a menu. “This is a pretty nice restaurant you chose.”

“Thank you. It’s the only monster restaurant that’s not a bar.” Toriel said.

“Ah.” Liliane looked around at the other people there. “They only serve monster food?”

“No, they serve human food too.” Sans explained. Liliane nodded.

“So, what’s the difference between monster food and human food?” Liliane asked.

“Monster food is pure energy because some monsters, like yours truly, cannot eat regular food.” Sans explained.

“Ah.” Liliane repeated. “Um, I think I’ll get the deluxe sushi.”

“So, what happened with your date? I told you it was a double date.” Sans asked.

“Oh, I invited a friend along, but he flaked.” Liliane explained.

“I’m sorry.” Sans frowned.

“It’s no problem. Haven’t dated in 11 years, and I don’t plan on it.” Liliane shrugged as the waiter came by with the drinks.

“Alright, here’s your drinks.” The waiter gave a water to Liliane and Toriel, and the ketchup to Sans.

“Could I get a Peach Mango Martini?” Liliane asked.

“Sure thing.” The waiter smiled as he wrote it down. “What would you guys like to eat?”

“A filet mignon for both of us.” Sans said, gesturing to himself and Toriel.

“I’d like some deluxe sushi.” Liliane said.

“11 years, huh?” Sans asked as the waiter walked off.

“Yep.” Liliane said.

“You had a daughter, right? Clarisse, was it?” Toriel questioned. Liliane frowned.

“Yeah. She ran away two years ago.” Liliane grabbed a strand of hair nervously. “She would be 11 now.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Toriel frowned.

“Oh, thank you. I’ve gotten over it though.” Liliane laughed it off nervously.

**_How does one get over your nine year old running away and presumably dying?_ ** Sans frowned. “What was she like?”

“Well, she was such an innocent child.” Liliane said reluctantly. “She was so sweet. Wouldn’t hurt a fly. She couldn’t talk, though.”

“She couldn’t?” Sans asked.

“Yeah. We both learned how to sign, because we knew she could hear. She just couldn’t talk.” Liliane said. “I missed her.” She added, looking down as if lost in thought.

“Missed?” Sans asked. Liliane jumped up in surprise.

“Erm, miss. Sorry, zoned out there for a minute.” She apologised.

“It’s fine.” Sans said. “Did she have a father?” Liliane winced.

“That’s a bit complicated, and I’d rather not get into it here.” Liliane explained.

“Oh.” Sans said.  **_That’s for another time._ **

“Well, anyways, what do you do outside of being in the police force?” Toriel asked.

“Not much.” Liliane looked a bit happier at the change of subject. “I pride myself on being one of the top in my station.”

“Wow, that’s impressive.” Sans said.   
“Thank you.” Liliane smiled. “I used to do gymnastics as a kid, but then I grew to be too tall for it. I still do some tumbling, just to stay in shape though.”

“That’s interesting.” Toriel commented.

“You’d be surprised at how often it come in handy.” Liliane said as the waiter came back with her martini and the food. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” He smiled as he walked off. Liliane took a sip.

“So what do you two do for fun?” She asked.

“Well, I go to Grillby’s.” Sans said. “I used to work multiple jobs, but eh, not anymore.”

“What kinds of jobs did you work as?” Liliane asked.

“Well, I worked as a sentry, and I did comedy at MTT resort.” Sans said. “I don’t need to now that we live above ground.” He took a bite of his food.

“Cool.” Liliane said as she took another drink and started on her sushi.

“I work as a teacher, but outside of that, I like to bake.” Toriel said.

“That’s awesome! I’m terrible at baking.” Liliane said.

“I can teach you if you want.” Toriel offered.

“Sounds good.” Liliane nodded.

“So what cases are you on other than Frisk’s?” Sans asked.

“None right now. Nothing really happens in this town.” Liliane shrugged. “And besides, anything shady has been pretty much taken care of.”

“Anything shady?” Sans pressed.

“I live in probably the shadiest neighborhood in this city. There’s notorious partiers, perverts, and drug dealers.” Liliane explained. “Most people don’t let their kids out of their sight there. I don’t even know most of my neighbors, although the one on the end must have recently moved out. They have a ‘for sale’ sign on their lawn.”

“Do you know who lived there?” Toriel asked.

“I think it was some british guy. I’m not sure.” Liliane reported.

**_Some british guy?_ ** Sans frowned.  **_That might be Paul._ **

“Well, anyways, you guys live in the suburbs, right?” Liliane changed the subject. 

“Yeah, we do. It’s a fairly calm neighborhood.” Sans confirmed. “It’s about 10 minutes away from the kids’ school.”

“That’s where the kidnapping happened, right?” Liliane asked.

“Yeah.” Sans nodded.

“It’s where we’ve been investigating. I didn’t realize that was where she went to school.” Liliane commented.

“Oh, Frisk prefers to go by gender neutral pronouns.” Sans said.

“Gender neutral pronouns?” Liliane frowned.

“They/them pronouns.” Toriel explained. “Neither Frisk nor Chara like associating with their biological gender.”

“Oh.” Liliane gave a weird look. “I’ve dealt with people who are the same way. I don’t understand it, but then again, I don’t feel the same way.” She shrugged.

“That’s a good way to go about it.” Sans commented. They all fell silent as they continued eating.

**_She was awfully reluctant to talk about Clarisse. I wonder why?_ **

“So, what are Alice and Chara doing while you guys are here? Did you hire a sitter?” Liliane asked.

“Actually, they were asked by one of the PTA moms to babysit for them.” Sans said. “I guess they couldn’t get their normal babysitter.”

“Oh, that’s cool.” Liliane said, finishing off her sushi as she took another drink. “I talked with a couple of the moms about the case. Which one?”

“It was Carol, right?” Toriel asked Sans.

“Yeah. They took their oldest kid out for his birthday, so she asked Chara and Alice to watch their other two kids.”

“That’s good that they’re getting a chance to be responsible, isn’t it?” Liliane asked.

“They’re pretty responsible on their own.” Toriel said. “They generally take care of themselves.”

“They sound very mature. How old are they? 15 or 16?” Liliane replied.

“They’re the same age as Frisk, so 11.” Sans said.

“Wow, that’s very responsible for such a young age.” Liliane was impressed.

“Speaking of them, I wonder how they’re doing?” Toriel commented.

“I’m sure they have everything under control. They’re good kids.” Sans pointed out.

**_Even if I was kind of leery about letting Chara out of my sight, I haven’t had an issue yet. I wouldn’t let them do anything that I don’t know what they’re doing, but..._ **

“True.” Toriel agreed.

* * *

 

**Earlier that evening...**

 

“Thank you again for watching them on such a short notice.” Carol thanked Chara and Alice again.

“No problem.” Chara smiled. “Happy birthday, Jack.”

“Thank you.” He whispered.

“Well, we’d better go before we’re late for our reservation.” Carol looked at the clock. “You remember what we said about Emalie and Timmy, right?”

“Yes, Emalie can’t eat sugar after 7:00, Timmy loves peanut butter but can’t have it after 7:00, and the kids can play video games or watch cartoons on TV, but Timmy has to be in bed by 8, and Emalie has to be in bed by 8:30.” Chara repeated.

“Perfect.” Carol nodded.

“Thank you again for watching them.” Her husband, who had introduced himself as Jay.

“You’re very w-welcome! Have a nice evening.” Alice smiled as they left and shut the door. They turned to the two kids.

“Hello!” Emalie smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you two.” Chara smiled back. “What would you two like to do?”

“Play a bword game!” Timmy called out. Chara laughed.

“Alright. What board game do you want to play?” Chara asked.

“Scene it!” Emalie said, jumping up to grab it.

“What’s that?” Alice asked. Emalie looked at her in shock.

“You’ve never played Scene It!?” She gasped. “We’ve got to play it right now.” Emalie grabbe Alice’s hand and ran with her to their side room. They came out a minute later with the game.

“Alright, so you need the TV to use it.” Emalie instructed. Chara went up and turned on the TV while Alice watched, interested. “You turn on the player and put the disk in and it’ll pop up on the TV screen.” Chara did so and turned back to see Alice looking amazed. “I have the remote.” Emalie continued, holding it up. Chara went to sit down, but then stopped, noticing a family picture. It had Carol, her husband, and their kids, although it was clearly several years earlier. What piqued Chara’s interest the most was that there were 4 kids. Timmy was in Carol’s arms as a newborn baby, Emalie was tugging on Jay’s sleeve, as a tiny three year old, Jack was in front of Jay, and Carol was hugging an obviously older daughter.

“Emalie, who’s this?” Chara asked. The girl looked familiar.

“That’s our older sister.” Emalie said. “She died.” 

**_How sensitive. She must not remember her that well._ ** Chara thought, trying to place the girl. They shrugged and went to sit back down to play the game with an amazed Alice and two kids. But the girl stayed in her mind. She stayed during their dinner of mac n’ cheese. She stayed during desert. But it wasn’t until well after the kids went to bed and  Chara and Alice were watching TV, that they finally placed her in their mind.

“That’s how-” Chara burst out suddenly.

“How what?” Alice asked.

“That’s how I knew that girl.” Chara realized, looking around to see another portrait of the same girl in a tutu, leotard and tights, and pointe shoes.

“She was the Blue Soul that died in Waterfall.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave a question!  
> See you next chapter~


	44. Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex reveals a secret...

Chapter 44

Chara waited with Alice shortly after school, waiting for Alex to come by.

"So, that g-girl fell underground before Frisk did?" Alice asked.

"Yeah. I didn't know her name, but I remember her." Chara nodded. "She was a ballerina."

"Wow." Alice looked amazed.

"There was a bookworm, a boxer, a girl who loved to play with knives, a chef, someone who was from the south, and then the ballerina." Chara explained. "I shared their soul up until they died."

"How did they die?" Alice asked. "I mean, there were t-the SAVE points, weren't there?"  
"Unless someone is very determined, they can only save at a certain amount of points. Once they pass that point, their SAVES get erased and they can't reset."

"Oh." Alice frowned.

"Oh hey! Sorry I'm late." Alex said, sitting down next to the swing set the other two were on.

"It's fine." Chara smiled. "What took you so long?"

"Mom found out that my Ipad wasn't what I was hiding from her, so I had to take it with me. She interrogated me for a good 20 minutes." Alex sighed.

"Do you have it?" Chara asked.

"Right here." Alex patted his backpack. He bit his lip subconsciously.

There's something on his mind. "Hey Alex?"

"Yeah?" He looked up suddenly.

"Is there something on your mind? You seem distracted." Chara said. Alex hesitated for a second.

"Yeah...there is." He admitted.

"What is it, i-if you don't mind us asking?" Alice asked. Another pause.

"I...didn't know there was a word for it until the PTA meeting...but I've never felt exactly like, well, a boy." He admitted. "Everything my mom did with talking about boy sports and girl sports made me uncomfortable, and telling me that little boys do this and that, and just everything to do with being a boy...I just never felt like that was really me." Chara was frozen.

**_Is he, no she, telling us that she's…_ **

"This is the first time I've said it out loud." Alex said. "But I am a transgender girl. Please don't hate me." He added quickly, seeing the surprised looks on Alice and Chara's face.

"Why would we hate you?" Chara asked.

'We s-support you, you know that." Alice pointed out. "We're all friends." Alex relaxed at that.

"Thank god." She sighed. "I didn't want to lose my friends."

"Hey, I'm agender." Chara pointed out. "Did you really think I would condemn you for being transgender?" They teased.

"Yeah, that's true." Alex laughed. "Thank you guys." She sighed and hugged the both of them.

"You're very welcome." Chara smiled. "Come on, let's go get something at that little coffee shop over there."

"So, if you don't mind, is there anything else you want us to call you by?" Chara asked. Alex shook her head.

"It'll make it easier around Mom and Dad." Alex explained. "I'm not out to them, so…"

"Are you out to Jimmy?" Alice asked.

"Well, he looked through my diary." Alex muttered. "So yes."

"And is that what you were reading about before?" Chara added.

"Yeah. I wasn't ready to come out and that's why I snapped." Alex confessed. "I was reading an article about it."

"It's fine." Chara smiled. "At least you figured it out before…" Chara trailed off.

"Before what?" Alex blinked.

"Nothing important. I was about to say something, but then I remembered you're not out yet." Chara admitted.

"And I'm not planning on it for a while." Alex shrugged her shoulders. "At least, not to Mom and Dad. Dad might accept it, but Mom won't, and she wears the pants in this family." Chara nodded.

"It's your choice w-when you want to come out." Alice said. Chara saw that their drinks were ready, so they went and picked them up.

"You know, I have some money." Chara mentioned. "If you want, we can go to the mall and pick up some stuff that'll help you with dysphoria, but that won't tip off Linda."

"Really?" Alex looked shocked.

"Yep. you don't even have to pay me back." Chara nodded.

"Thank you so much." Alex had a huge smile on her face.

"We also need to get to a dance store." Chara said.

"To cover our arms, right?" Alice asked.

"Yeah." Chara nodded. "We both have some scars on our arms that we can't cover with makeup." They explained to Alex.

"Oh." Alex frowned.

"We'll do that after. it's just for the dance show." Chara said.

"Okay. Let's go." Alex got up.

* * *

 

"Where to first?" Alex asked.

"Well, the clothing store." Chara said.

"That's it?" Alex frowned.

"Yep. We don't want to tip off Linda too much." Chara explained.

"Ah. I get it." Alex nodded her head. "Well, I'm ready for suffering."

"That's the spirit." Chara nodded as Alice put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. "Let's go." They added as the three headed for the clothing store.

"Okay, so f-first, let's look at the girls' shirts." Alice said, heading for the women's section. "Anything that catches your interest?"

"This." Alex picked out a slightly cropped top that was watercolor between teal and white.

"That's good." Chara nodded. "Anything else?"

"I like those shirts. The ones with the pictures." Alex said.

"Hmm, maybe not those." Chara shook their head. "What do you think about something like this?" Chara picked out some band t-shirts.

"Okay." Alex nodded. She picked out some indie bands. "What next?"

"Hmm…" Chara frowned.

"What about some oversized sweatshirts?" Alice suggested.

"There we go." Chara nodded. The three walked over to the racks.

"I like these ones." Alex said, picking out a handful of sweatshirts.

"Okay, let's go try these on." Chara said. They all walked over to the dressing rooms, stopping for Alice to pick out a dress she saw and loved.

"I need to t-try this on." She had said, picking it out in her size. Chara waited outside while the two tried them on. Alice came out in her dress.

"That looks good on you." Chara said.

"Thank you." Alice smiled. "I have s-some money. I can buy it."

"Awesome." Chara said as she went back to change out of it. Alex came out in one of the shirts.

"What do you think?" Chara tilted their head.

"I like it." Alex said, lifting her arms. "I tried on the other stuff, and that looks good too."

"Awesome. Now go change back into your stuff so that we can go buy it." Chara said as Alex went back into the dressing room. Pretty soon, the three were walking out with their bags of clothing.

"Alright, so the dance store?"Alice asked.

"Yep. Let's go." Chara grabbed both of their hands and teleported to the dance store, where they picked out nude leotards to wear under their costumes. After they bought them, Chara teleported them back to the house, where they hung out for the rest of the day.


	45. Consequences (Again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara discovers the flaws in being separated from Frisk.

Chapter 45

 

Chara woke up feeling somewhat different.

**_What’s happening?_ ** They wondered as they yawned, trying to bring their left hand up to their mouth.

But they couldn’t. Their arm just stayed where it was, lying next to them on the bed. They stared at it. They grabbed their left arm with their right arm, and lifted it up, but it just fell back down.

**_What the hell? First this arm hurts, then it’s completely numb? What’s going on with this?_ ** They got up, careful not to wake up Alice, and went downstairs, their arm swinging by their side like a dead fish.

**_Okay, maybe not the bext comparison, Chara…_ ** They thought as they moved to the kitchen. Sans was sitting there, drinking coffee.

“Mornin’, Chara.” Sans said.

“Morning.” Chara replied, grabbing the coffee awkwardly with their right hand, leaving the left limp.

“What happened to your arm?” Sans asked.

“I don’t know.” Chara said. “I can’t feel it at all.” Sans frowned and stood up. He grabbed their arm.

“Is this the same one that was hurting before?” 

“Yeah.” Chara nodded. “I chalked it up to something else, but now it’s completely numb and I can’t move it.” Sans let go and it flopped, smacking Chara in the side. “Ow.”

“What else did you chalk it up to?” Sans asked. Chara frowned.

“N-nothing important. It happened ages ago.” Chara said, looking away. Sans looked at them suspiciously.

“...Alright then.” Sans said. “I’ll see if Alphys can come and help. Or someone else, I don’t know.”

***

“Hey Alphys.” Sans said, walking in with Chara.

“Oh, h-hello, Sans!” Alphys stood up from where she was sitting next to Mettaton. “We w-were just talking.”

“Talking shit.” Mettaton said, stretching his magnificent arms.

**_...Did I really just think that?_ **

“W-well, about Linda and the dance show.” Alphys said.

“She was the ONLY person who didn’t have something canceled. Fuck her.” Mettaton crossed his arms, annoyed. He then noticed Chara. “Um, he-hello there, darling. Please don’t tell anyone I was talking like that.” Mettaton added nervously.

“I’ve been around you cursing before, Mettaton, I don’t really care.” Chara pointed out.

“True.” Mettaton nodded. 

“And it  _ is _ pretty shitty that Linda’s show was the only thing that didn’t get canceled.” Chara added.

**_Basically, because of Frisk’s kidnapping, all afterschool activities, including the Dance Show, were canceled. Of course Linda used her influence to keep the PTA meetings and Suessical going, but..._ **

“It is.” Mettaton agreed. “Darling, what happened to your arm?” 

“Oh, it was hurting a few days ago, but then I woke up today and it was like this.” Chara explained. Alphys frowned.

“Alright, let’s check it out. Can you roll up your s-sleeve?” Alphys asked, causing them to frown.

“Um…” Chara looked away.

“Chara.” Sans said. Chara bit their lip, muttering something under their breath.

“C-chara, I have to s-see your arm to f-find out what’s wrong.” Alphys explained. Chara sighed and reluctantly rolled up their sleeve to reveal the scars they got from Meredith. 

“W-what h-happened!?” Mettaton gasped, pulling the couch behind him to lay on in horror like some sort of overdramatic teenager.

“Chara, what did you  _ do _ !?” Sans demanded. Alphys just held her hands to her mouth in shock.

“I t-told you, it’s from a long time ago!” Chara closed their eyes and turned their head away. “I don’t want to t-talk about it.” Sans sighed, and Chara swore they heard him mutter that he was going to get the truth out of them.

“Alright. let’s continue on.” Sans said. Alphys grabbed their arm again, and lifted it.

“A-alright, I want you t-to hold your a-arm up.” She said. She let go and their arm flopped down.

“I can’t even hold it up.” Chara explained.

“Can you feel me poking it?” Alphys asked.

“No.” Chara said. Alphys frowned.

“Alright, one more test.” Alphys said. She poked their shoulder.

“I felt that.” Chara said. Alphys poked just above their arm.

“Yep.” Alphys poked one more time on their arm.

“Are you going to do it again?” Chara asked.

“I did.” Alphys frowned. “Alright, I-I would normally s-say that this is paralysis, but t-this seems like something more. After a-all, you’re a demon, c-correct?”

“I guess.”

“T-that explains it. How long has F-frisk been gone?”

“About two weeks?” Chara frowned. What did that have to do with anything?

Alphys thought.

“I-I’ll be right back.” Alphys walked off and came back with an X-ray machine. Except it was white and had many more buttons on it.

“What’s that?” Sans asked.

“It’s a Soul screen.” Alphys explained. “It’s used to see one’s Soul, and it’s basically a larger version of the thing I gave you for science fair.” She set it up in front of Chara. “I h-have a theory. It’s very unlikely, but it’s worth checking out because you should  _ n-not _ be getting paralyzed.”

**_I souldn’t be getting paralyzed?_ ** Chara frowned. Alphys turned it on and looked at it.

“Just as I thought.” Alphys put her hands to her mouth.

“What does this mean?” Sans asked.

“Wait, what happened?” Chara demanded.

“You only have half a Soul.” Alphys explained. “I s-suspected it because you split off from Frisk.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Chara retorted.

“Because of the half a Soul, you are d-dependant on Frisk. As long as Frisk i-is safe and happy, you are.” Alphys tapped the screen to freeze it and turned it around, showing Chara the half a red Soul with a small crack in it.

“What does the crack mean?” Chara asked.

“The crack is because Frisk is  _ not _ s-safe right now. The numbness in y-your arm is an offset of that. As long as Frisk is in d-danger, you will slowly become more and more numb and the rest of your body will become u-useless, until your Soul shatters.” Alphys explained. Chara gulped. 

**_So if I don’t find Frisk, then I’m going to slowly lose everything…_ **

“Numbness is what a lot of m-monsters feel when they die.” Alphys explained. “I just d-don’t understand…” She muttered.

“Don’t understand what?” Sans asked.

“It should be s-spreading a lot faster.” Alphys explained.

“What do you mean?”

“Frisk has been gone and in d-danger for two weeks. But that doesn’t add up to w-what’s happening here. If Frisk were r-really in danger, Chara would be completely n-numb except for their head, and their S-soul would be almost completely broken.” Alphys said.

“That is odd.” Sans frowned.

“So what does that mean?” Chara demanded.

“I h-have no idea.” Alphys shook her head. “But you need to find Frisk, and sometime in the next month.”

“So sometime before January 17th?” Chara asked.

“Yes.” Alphys said.

“Okay, thank you so much, Alphys.” Sans nodded.

“No p-problem.” Alphys smiled. “I wish you guys luck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I started school on wednesday (junior year yooooooo)  
> I have 4 out of 6 classes (well, technically 5 out of 6, but Class Mentor doesn't count), but they're all advanced classes. So depending on homework load, I may start updating twice a week. I'm hoping to be done with this story by either 2017 or this time next year.  
> Also, feel free to ask questions about anything! I won't answer if it's spoilers, though ;)  
> See you next time~


	46. Revisit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Alice go looking for Frisk and find a lead, but get sidetracked...

Chapter 46

 

Chara and Alice had walked towards the school that same day, despite being on break. Alice pulled out some paper and a pen.

“Okay, so f-first off, we should p-probably mark down places where we should look.” Alice said.

“That’s a good idea.” Chara commented. “Which way should we head?”

“Use your head. W-which way can you feel F-frisk faster?” Alice asked. Chara turned a couple directions before facing the left.

“This way.” Chara said. 

Alice gulped before saying, “Alright. L-let’s go that way, then.” The two headed off towards the left, Chara being able to feel Frisk faster and faster as they turned in places, the feeling of dread increasing in Alice’s stomach and moving up to her heart.

“Hey, are you okay?” Chara noticed that Alice was feeling very nervous.

“Y-yeah…” Alice said, visibly shaking.

“Alice, you’re not okay. What’s going on?” Chara demanded, putting their right hand on their hip. Their left hand laid limp next to them.

“I-I know w-w-we’re looking f-f-for F-Frisk and al-all, but…” Alice started. She gulped. “T-this is m-my street. And t-that was m-my house.” She pointed to the house on the end. Chara tilted their head. 

“That was a long walk from the school to here.” Chara commented. 

“I had to w-walk there morning and evening.” Alice shrugged. 

“It’s awfully pretty.” It was a rather large house, obviously one of someone who was rich. From the outside, it was a  _ very _ pretty house. It had a white, cream, and black theme, with a lot of land surrounding it. There were white roses surrounding it, and red carnations, and all sorts of flowers in all sorts of colors. But Chara knew that what went on in the house probably ruined the beauty of it for Alice. They didn’t need to visit it to see if Frisk was there anyways, as there was a ‘For Sale’ sign in front of it.

“I guess.” Alice shrugged. She thought for a minute, and then looked determined.

“I-I…” Alice ran up to the fence.

“Alice, wait!” Chara yelped, running after her. Alice unlocked the fence and ran to the unlocked door. Chara grabbed her arm, and the sudden stop caused their limp hand to smack them in the side.

“You don’t know who could be in here.” Chara explained. Alice nodded.

“This way.” Alice opened the door and led Chara to the wall in the front room. She opened up a smaller, secret door from behind the wallpaper and let Chara through first. Chara walked through easily and ended up in a living room with several dirty couches.

“Why did you want to go here, Alice?” Chara felt a bit uneasy about the whole thing. Alice must have felt the same way.

“I...I-I just…” Alice walked to a couch and pulled out a baseball bat. 

“Feels d-d-different holding it.” She muttered under her breath, patting it on her hand. “S-so now w-we have s-self defense.” Alice said a bit louder. “L-let’s walk around.” Alice walked around the house with Chara, who saw the various holes in the wall and stained floors, as well as some broken windows that they didn’t notice before.

**_It’s like a mirror image of Meredith’s house. Except the windows._ ** Chara gulped, realizing the effect of the house on them. They unconsciously grabbed their left arm.

“This w-was my room.” Alice said, opening the door. She flinched at seeing the bloody mess on the floor next to her bed from where Paul had attacked her before running away. Alice swallowed, and then continued on into the room. She looked in one of the drawers and gasped.

“It’s still here!” Alice pulled out something. Upon closer look, Chara saw it was a small star necklace.

“What is that?”

“It’s t-the one thing I have that’s my mum’s. It...kind of gives a bit of strength.” Alice explained as she pulled a chain from it and opened it, showing a picture of Alice and her mom hugging. Alice was obviously much, much younger. Her mother was very pretty, with high cheekbones, stunning green eyes, and very light blonde hair.

“You really do look like her.” Chara commented. “You’re both pretty.”

“O-oh, um.” Alice smiled nervously. “T-thank you?”

“Keep it on you. It’s just going to get stolen otherwise.” Chara said.

“Okay.” Alice nodded. She took a breath as she put it on, holding the star. “Alright.” Alice stepped back from her dresser.

“Do you want to keep looking? Or do you want to leave?” Chara asked.

“Keep looking.” Alice said. 

“Alright.” The two left Alice’s room and walked down the hall.

“Um, do you have a bathroom?” Chara asked. Alice frowned for a second.

“It’s down the hall.” Alice said, bringing them to it. “I’ll s-stay out here, if you don’t mind.” Chara tilted their head.

“Okay.” They went into the bathrrom. As they were washing their hands after going, they noticed something in the bathtub. They parted the curtains, only to stop in shock.

**_Bloodstains?_ ** Chara frowned.  **_Who would kill someone in a bathtub?_ ** **** Chara shrugged and left the bathroom and walked with Alice.

“Here’s the k-kitchen.” Alice said. Chara looked around at the peeling walls, the dirty kitchen table and floor, and the dusty counters.

“It must have been pretty. You know, before everything.” Chara said.

“It was.” Alice left it at that. She opened the pantry and pulled out a giant bag of pastries.

“Why is this here?” Chara asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I m-made these.” Alice said.

“You did?” Chara was surprised. “Are they okay to eat?”

“The bag’s covered in dust and D-dad never found it, so I’m assuming they are.” Alice opened the bag and the scent of chocolate filled the air. “Here you go.” She pulled out a bun and gave it to Chara.

“Thanks.” Chara took a bite, and paused.

“D-do you like it?”

“Like it? I  _ love  _ it!” Chara exclaimed, wolfing it down. It was the  _ best _ thing Chara had eaten that was human food. The bun was slightly salted bread, but it coincided with the sweet chocolate that had been spread inside, making an explosion of taste that made them want more. Alice beamed.

“T-thank you!” She smiled. “Dad would just throw t-them away if he found them. That’s why they were hidden.”

“Well, they’re amazing. We should bake more at the house.” Chara commented.

“Definitely.” Alice agreed. She walked through the house again, swinging the bat around carelessly. Chara followed. Alice lingered by the back door.

“This is where D-dad kept all his illegal stuff.” Alice said.

“And that’s where you found the bug, right?” Chara asked.

“Yep. There’s more stuff in there, but I didn’t want to l-linger in there more than I needed to to get the picture. I’m not n-normally allowed in there, and it smells  _ awful. _ ” Alice walked past. Chara thought they could smell the scent of burnt cigarettes, but decided it must have been due to whoever had last broken in. Alice shook as she put her hand on the doorknob to the next door.

“What’s in there?” Chara asked.

“N-n-nothing. Literally n-nothing.” Alice said. “Not e-even a light. It locks f-from the outside.” Alice commented, and left it at that as she moved on. She sighed and sat down carefully on the couch, next to some wilting flowers.

“Are you alright?” Chara asked. “We can leave if you want.”

“No, I-I’m fine.” Alice shook her head. “It’s just...you know...I n-never thought I would be here again.”

“And you won’t have to.” Chara pointed out. “You wanted to go here, not me.”

“True.” Alice sighed again.

“What room is this? It’s pretty nice.” Chara changed the subject.

“The living room.” Alice answered. “I w-wasn’t allowed in here. That’s why it’s nice, according to Dad.”

“Oh.” Chara frowned.

“There’s a TV in here. That’s why. B-besides, it’s also where he brought his guests.” Alice added. “We walked through here to the b-back from the front door. The rest of the house is either accessed through that secret door we went through or that door that we just used.” 

“Ah.” Chara commented. Alice lead them to the next room.

“This was Dad’s room.” Alice said. “I never went in here.” She put her hand on the door, hesitant.

“Wait.” Chara paused. “I think someone’s in there.”

“You’re right.” Alice realized, hearing the voice from inside the room that Chara heard. “Let’s get out of here.” The two ran off, only for Alice to turn somewhere else. Chara decided to trust her and run after her, and Alice grabbed her bat and broke open a window.

“Let’s get out here.” Chara went first, and then Alice.

“”Well, that was something.” Chara said. “Not to mention, it’s late.”

“It is. We should go.” Alice replied.

“But I can still feel Frisk!” Chara retorted.

“Frisk’ll still be there t-tomorrow.” Alice countered. “T-there’s horrible people here. We need to leave.” 

“But we don’t even know if Frisk is in  _ this  _ neighborhood! For all we know, they could be in the next street over! Or even-” Suddenly, Chara felt nothing.

**_They must have gone to sleep._ **

“Alright.” Chara sighed and teleported them back to the house.

“What’s t-this?” Alice asked, walking up to the table. There was a newspaper on it.

“‘New kidnapping victim’?” Chara read.

“What?’ Alice gasped. Chara skimmed the article.

“It looks like someone named Andrew was kidnapped.” Chara said.

“Is there a serial k-kidnapper going around or something?” Alice wondered.

“I have no idea.” Chara shook their head. “I hope not. But it’s starting to look like it.” They paused. “My right arm’s starting to hurt.”

“Uh oh.” Alice frowned.

**_That means I have a few days until I lose the use of this arm…_ **

* * *

 

_ He opened his eyes. He knew what was happening. He couldn’t do a thing to help. He knew that the child would be done for if they couldn’t solve the issue. He was complete. He was done. But he knew he would fall apart again if he left without a vessel. And that didn’t exist yet. _

_ He settled down. They still had a few weeks until it was too late. With the rate that the child was going in falling apart, according to his studies, Alphys was spot on. They would have a few days between pain and losing the use of that limb. _

_ He prepared. _

**_My time is soon..._ **


	47. PTA meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciara asks Carol about the blue-Souled child, Carol gives the kids a warning, and Linda is late yet again.

Chapter 47

 

Chara sat out with the other kids, waiting while Linda went off to go enjoy some time with the principal. They knew that she probably wouldn’t be back for a while, so they decided to teleport into the room and let the other kids in for the PTA meeting.

“So how has the search for Frisk gone?” Alex asked, blinking.

“Not well.” Chara sighed. “Well, better than before, I guess. We have an idea of where they might be, but we need to narrow it down a bit more.”

“That’s good.” Alex nodded. “Nice necklace, by the way, Alice.” 

“Oh, t-thank you.” Alice said, grabbing it self consciously.

“Are you wearing makeup?” Chara asked looking closer at Alex.

“I’ve been sneaking into Mom’s room and taking her mascara.” Alex explained. “But that’s it.”

“Good.” Chara nodded. “Has she noticed?”   
“Not as far as I can tell.” Alex shook her head. “But she doesn’t pay attention to me much anyways except to make sure I’m staying in the family mold.”

“Well, joke’s on her.” Chara joked. They noticed that Carol and her kids had come in. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” They stood up and walked to Carol.

“Oh, hello there Chara!” Carol smiled.

“Hi Carol!” Chara greeted her. 

“Thank you  _ so much _ for babysitting for me. You and Alice both. The kids had such an awesome time.” Carol thanked them.

“It’s no problem! I loved babysitting.” Chara smiled. “I have a quick question for you.”

“Okay, shoot.” Carol nodded.

“Um, I’m sorry if this is a tough subject, but I noticed that you had another child in your family pictures. I was wondering where she is now.” Chara asked. “She looks familiar to me.” Carol frowned for a second.

“That was my older daughter.” Carol explained. “Her name was Courtney. She’s...no longer with us.” Carol sat down. “She was a prima ballerina. The studio told me that she was a talent. She was preparing to go to the studio of her dreams, and we were preparing to help her move. I dabble in photography, if you didn’t know.” Carol explained.

“I didn’t. That’s cool.” Chara commented.

“Thank you.” Carol smiled. “I was doing her headshots for the audition, and some pictures for her for both us and her, to hang around the house. We went up to Mt. Ebott, because of how pretty it is up there. She was there in her favorite tutu and pointe shoes, and her favorite leotard. She was a lovely dancer, and I still have the photos. I…” Carol frowned. “I told her to do a developpe en seconde en pointe, and she did. She fell off her toebox, and stumbled backwards into a bottomless pit. She was able to grab onto the side of the pit and hang on for dear life, and I ran to grab her. But just as I got there and grabbed her hand, she slipped.” Carol held out her hand as if she was seeing her daughter 

fall all over again. “Fell to what I assume was her death.” Chara was silent. 

Because they knew the truth.

“She didn’t die.” Chara said.

“What?” Carol looked up.

“She fell into the world of monsters.” Chara explained. “She went through the world and made it to Waterfall. But she fell into the water and drowned.” Chara lied at the end, not wanting Carol to think less of Undyne. Chara knew the truth, that Undyne had killed Courtney.

“She did?” Carol blinked. “How do you know?”

“It’s kind of complicated.” Chara said.  **_I can’t exactly say that I died underground and we shared a Soul. Then I’d have to explain everything…_ **

“Oh.” Carol frowned.

“How long ago did she fall?” Chara asked.

“Six years ago.” Carol said. “She would be 19 now.”

**_That’s old…_ **

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Chara frowned.

“Thank you.” Carol replied.

“I’m sorry for bringing up bad memories.” Chara added.

“It’s fine.” Carol said. “It gives me a bit of a sense of closure, knowing what happened other than her just falling to her death.”

“That’s good.” Chara nodded. “I’m going to go back to everyone, if you don’t mind.”

“No, go ahead.” Carol said. “But wait, bring your friends back over here.”

Chara nodded as they walked back to Alice and Alex.

“So, no one else is really here.” Alex commented. “Mom’s gone to the principal, and most of the parents other than Carol aren’t here yet.”

“Yeah.” Alice frowned. “I h-have a bad feeling about this meeting. I don’t know what it is, but it j-just seems more...tense.”

“I agree.” Chara said.

“She’s right.” Alex added.

“Hey, really quick, Carol wanted me to bring you guys over to her.” Chara said.

“Okay.” Alex looked surprised, but the two girls followed Chara to Carol.

“I just wanted to warn you guys.” Carol explained. “Linda thinks that you’re turning one of her kids gay, and she knows it’s not Jimmy.”

“What?” Chara was surprised. “Why do you think that?”

“Because Alex quit all of his activities that Linda considers masculine.” Carol said. “And she’s noticed that she’s running low on mascara faster than normal, and she knows that the other two don’t wear makeup. “Be careful. Linda’s going to try to keep you three apart, and keep a closer eye on Alex.”   
“Got it. Thank you, Carol.” Alex nodded. The three went back.

Chara said, “What now?” They looked around, seeing several of the parents and other kids there, with the exception of their own and Linda. Diane and Helen were talking quietly together, and Adalia was surprisingly talking to David. Jimmy was arguing over something with Anna and Ashley, Gloria was talking to Tommy and Jamal, who was trying to teach them sign language.

“I guess we eat food?” Alex said, shrugging.

“Sure.” Chara agreed, and the three grabbed food and sat down to eat. They looked up as Sans walked in with pie.

“Heya kiddos.” Sans smiled after dropping it off, going to go sit with them. “Where’s Linda?”

“With the principal.” Alex said.

“Ah.” Sans nodded. “Well, what’s happened?”

“Not much.” Chara shrugged, looking at Alex, who shook her head slightly.

**_She doesn’t want to be outed to Sans yet. Got it._ **

“Carol said that Linda thinks we’re corrupting her kids.” Chara added.

“Of course she does.” Sans muttered. “I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”

“Okay, thank you.” Chara nodded. Alice looked lost in thought.

“You okay?” Chara asked. Before Alice could respond, the door opened.

“Alex! Get away from those two!” Scolded Linda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The irony of the chapter where Chara loses the use of their arm is, I woke up from a nap the next day not being able to feel my left arm XD
> 
> Feel free to ask me questions, but they won't be answered if it's spoilers~  
> See you next time ;)
> 
> ~Skater


	48. Linda you dickhead wtf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Linda.

Chapter 47

"Linda, what the hell?" Sans retorted.

"Get your freaks away from my kid." Linda snapped. "They're corrupting him."

"First off, they're not freaks." Sans countered angrily. "Secondly, how are they corrupting him?"  
"Well, I-I just don't want them near my kids!" Linda retorted. "They're going to make him just like them!"

"They're going to make him a good kid?" Sans raised a non-existant eyebrow. "Sheesh, what a lesson to teach your kids. If you don't like someone's decisions, criticize them out loud and keep your kids away from them. Look, what is this even about?"

"None of your business." Linda snapped. "Your daughters are just trying to get attention. I don't want my son around that." Alex looked away, as the tension in the room grew while everyone watched the argument.

"Like I said, what a thing to teach your kids." Sans shrugged, refusing to back down.

"It's none of your business how I raise my kids. A parent knows best how to care for their kid." Linda retorted, glaring Sans down. Chara felt rage bubble up in them.

_**Oh, so an abusive parent knows best?**_  They were just about to say something, but someone beat them to the punch.

"Y-you're wrong." Alice spoke up. Linda turned to her in shock.

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are?" Linda demanded.

"T-the person who k-knows better than anyone y-you're w-wr-wrong." Alice stuttered. "If y-you're right, t-then what m-my Dad did w-was j-justified."

"What your dad did?" Linda laughed. "Give me a break. Your dad did nothing."

"He..h-he.." Alice tried to get out.

"See, no argument. Liar." Linda said coldly, shocking everyone in the room into complete silence.

"I-I'm n-not a l-l-liar!" Alice retorted, tearing up.

"You still call him your dad. If you were really abused, you wouldn't even consider him a part of your family. You wouldn't think about him. You care about him, dont you?" Linda pressed. Alice was silent. "Then you weren't abused by him. If you really were, you wouldn't care."

"H-h-he's still my D-d-ad.." Alice said.

"Then why are you lying?" Linda demanded.

"I-I'm not lying!" Alice yelled. "H-he hurt me...he tried to kill m-me mo-more than o-once…" Chara froze at that.

_**He tried to kill her more than once?**_  Suddenly, they thought back.

* * *

_"Okay." They went into the bathroom. As they were washing their hands after going, they noticed something in the bathtub. They parted the curtains, only to stop in shock._

_**Bloodstains?**  Chara frowned.  **Who would kill someone in a bathtub?**_

_Chara left the bathroom and walked with Alice._

* * *

_**It can't be…** _

"I…" Alice broke down into tears and ran outside. Chara glared at Linda.

"How  _fucking_  dare you." They spat before running after Alice. Alex ran as well.

"Alex! Get back here!" Linda yelled, only for Alex to ignore her.

"So, Linda." Sans said, his eyes completely dark as he spat the name. "How does it feel to trigger a little girl with obvious PTSD?"

"The world's not going to pander to her every need." Linda scoffed. "It's only just preparing her for everyday life. Besides, you can only get PTSD from being in war, and last time I checked, Alice wasn't a war verteran."

"You disgust me." Sans spat.

"Linda, what the fucking hell are you thinking?" To everyone's surprise, Helen stood up.

"You know how I work." Linda retorted. "You've always agreed with me."

"No, I did so so that you couldn't use your little hat trick against me." Helen snapped.

"Hat trick?" Linda asked, paling. "What do you mean?"  
"Don't give me that BS." Helen answered. "We both know why you have extra control over the principal."

"What?" David gasped. The other moms looked shocked.

"That's a load of BS." Linda started sweating.

"Oh really?" Helen raised an eyebrow, walking closer to Linda. "Then you wouldn't mind if I told everyone."

"You wouldn't dare." Linda sweat even more. Helen slapped her.

"I'm no snitch." Helen growled. "But if you pull something like this again, where you deny someone's experiences, and make a child cry, I will ruin you. Understood?"

Sans was impressed. He knew that Helen knew Linda well, but he never thought this would happen. Linda nodded reluctantly.

"Good. Now, let's get this damn meeting over with. And kids, do not say those words I was saying, understood?" Helen said to the kids, who nodded.

* * *

"Alice!" Chara called out, looking for the girl.

"Alice!" Alex called out as well. The two heard sobbing nearby.

"Alice!" The two said at the same time as they saw her. She had her knees pulled into her body and her head down on top of her knees. She was crying.

"Alice, what happened?" Chara asked.

"Y-you saw." Alice muttered.

"No, not just now. With what you were talking about." Chara asked. Alice sighed and looked up. Chara saw that whatever mascara she was wearing had run.

"It was a few years ago, w-when I was 8. I was bakign at home b-by myself." Alice said. "I had g-grabbed a bag of flour and accidentally d-dropped it. It spilled e-everywhere."

"I went to c-clean it, but at that time, Dad came home." Alice paused for a second.

"H-he yelled a-at me for it, but t-then he le-left. I co-continued c-cleaning up and st-started to m-mix the batter, but then all of a s-sudden, he grabbed me." Chara frowned, dreading hearing the rest of the story.

"H-he had f-filled up the bathtub an-and decided to try t-to drown me. I don't r-really remember it much, b-but I remember him h-holding me under a-and seeing and coughing up b-blood and the f-feeling of n-not being ab-able to bre-brea-breathe." Alice shook as she recalled the awful memories.

"I-I w-woke u-up i-in th-the hospital." Alice finished. "T-they m-must have p-placed me u-under su-suicide watch be-because someone w-was wat-watching me at all t-times. I d-don't k-know what happened, b-but I g-guess m-my dad called 911 and said t-that I…" Alice frowned. Chara sat down and hugged her.

_**This poor girl's been through so much. I can't believe she's still functional…** _

Chara checked her HP.

* * *

Alice LV 1 12/12 HP

* * *

_**She's gaining HOPE POINTS from before. But I doubt she'll be fully back to what she should be until she's able to talk about and deal with her emotional trauma some more. Talking about it does seem to help, but I doubt she's told us everything.** _

"Is Alice okay?" Sans asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"She's having an episode." Chara said. Sans picked up Alice, who curled up into him. "What happened with the meeting?"  
"Everyone got pissed at Linda, so Helen took over and finished it quickly." Sans explained. "I'm sorry Alex, but we need to go."

"It's fine. I'll see you later, Chara and Alice." Alex waved goodbye.

"Bye Alex." Chara waved as they followed Sans back to teleport to the house.

* * *

Sans drove the two kids home in silence, as Chara sat with Alice lying in their lap, fast asleep with tearstains down her face.

_**Fucking Linda, I swear...She is going to pay for this.**_  Sans thought maliciously as he pulled up to the house. He helped Chara out of the car and picked up Alice's tiny body as he opened the door to see Liliane talking with Toriel, a cup of tea in her hands.

"Oh, good evening, Sans." Liliane greeted him, taking a sip.

"Heya, Liliane." Sans said. "Chara, could you take Alice upstairs?" Chara nodded and took Alice from him in their one arm and went upstairs, trying not to drop her.

"Toriel told me that Chara and Alice found a lead for Frisk, correct?" Liliane asked. Sans nodded. "Awesome. She told me what street it was."

"Alright. Have you made any more advances on finding Frisk?" Sans asked, hopeful.

"About that…" Liliane frowned. "I wanted to ask you guys to just leave searching for them to the police from here on out."  
"What? Why?" Sans demanded. Liliane pulled out a file and put it on the table.

"Because," Liliane pulled out a paper. "We have reason to believe that there is a serial kidnapper here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some sent in an ask on Fanfiction that actually brings something up that I've been wanting to mention. They asked me about posting this story on Wattpad and giving me credit.
> 
> I honestly don't want anyone else to post the story anywhere else for a couple of reasons.
> 
> 1) People might think that you're trying to claim the story as your own (even if you say it's not yours).
> 
> 2) At this time, I want to keep the sites that I post this on limited
> 
> 3) I don't want any of you to go through the hassle of copying every single chapter and reposting it. Besides, I'm working on revising the first few chapters.
> 
> I really appreciate that you're offering and that you want to help me, but I'd rather you didn't for those reasons. And if any of you guys see someone repost this and not give me credit, PLEASE let me know. If it's not on here or on Fanfiction, then it is absolutely NOT me and you should feel free to report it for stolen work. If I do post it on another website, I will let you guys know what my username is and what the website is.
> 
> In any case, here's an update on things:
> 
> -I'm starting to get into more of a schedule for skating (thank god for open 6th period) and I skate almost daily now
> 
> -I started getting back concussion symptoms so I'm banned from jumping and spinning for a few months at the very least, but I can still do moves, synchro and solo ice dance
> 
> -I start dancing again this coming week (It's only 2-3 hours a week, but still...)
> 
> -School is starting to give a heavier load for homework (and a lot changed from last year) and I'm trying to get in the swing of things
> 
> -I have a volunteer job thingy on Sundays now at a cafe in my town, so updates on those days will come either early morning or later in the afternoon
> 
> -College stuff is happening. You know, the part where you take like the SAT and ACT and start looking at where you want to apply (oh, the joys of being a junior)
> 
> -I have several hours of homework a night
> 
> -I'm still trying to find time to write (I'm actually two or three chapters ahead wooo)
> 
> So yeah, there's an update on my life.
> 
> QOTC: Favorite character in this story?
> 
> AOTC: Alice! Love my smol cinnamon roll
> 
> Feel free to ask me more questions!
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading, and I will see you guys next week.
> 
> ~Skater


	49. Redemption?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lillian explains why she doesn't want the family to go looking for Frisk anymore, and Chara and Alice have a surprise meeting with Alex and Jimmy...

Chapter 48

"What?" Sans was in utter shock.

"Four children have gone missing. Frisk, then Andrew Johnson, and two children named Laila Gemayd and Irene Heracross." Liliane explained. A timer went off, and Toriel got up to pull some cookies out of the oven.

"Those poor parents." Toriel said. "I hope whoever gets caught gets everything they deserve."

"Oh believe me, they will." Sans said, his eye flashing blue.

"Sans." Toriel warned, although her tone told Sans that she was angry too. "I want in on it too, leave some for me to kick their ass."

Sans chuckled.  _ **And that's how you know you married the right person.**_  "I will, don't worry."

"Good." Toriel said, pulling out the cookies.

"And of course you will. But please, I don't want you or the two kids to get hurt. Please leave finding Frisk to the police." Liliane begged.

"Alright." Sans agreed reluctantly. "Any more details on this?"

"None that we know of." Liliane said. "We have nothing to hint at where they could be. It's almost as if they just disappeared."

"That's odd." Sans frowned. "Do you think it's the same person who kidnapped Frisk?" Liliane paused, and hesitated.

"...I doubt it."

_**Why the pause?** _

"We found evidence for Frisk. We haven't found anything for the other kids." Liliane explained. "But we'll keep looking." Suddenly, her phone beeped.

"I've got to go." Liliane said, checking her phone. "The Chief is back, and he's asking to see me."

"Alright, we'll see you later." Sans nodded as Liliane left.

"What do you think, Sans?" Toriel asked. "Do you think it's the same person?"

"Yes." Sans said without hesitating. "There's multiple people missing, and they've all been kidnapped and just seemingly gone missing."

"But Liliane was right. They found evidence for Frisk, but no one else." Toriel pointed out.

"That was the first kidnapping." Sans said, suddenly feeling sad. "They probably just got sloppy."

"Probably." Toriel frowned, putting the cookies on a plate and in the microwave.

Chara and Alice walked into the kitchen the next morning.

"Hey, have either of you two seen anything about this?" Sans asked, olding the newspaper. The headline on the front was  _More Children Fall Victim to Kidnapper._  Chara grabbed the paper from Sans.

"Are there more people missing?" Chara asked, looking at the paper.

"First Frisk, then Andrew, t-then Laila and Irine?" Alice frowned. "What t-the heck is going on?"

"Something fishy, that's for sure." Chara said. "It's odd that all of a sudden, more and more kids are going missing. Andrew was 10. How old are Laila and Irine?" Sans grabbed back the paper.

"Laila is 8. Irine is 13." Sans read.

"How terrible." Alice shook her head. "They're so young."

"Could this be some pedophile?" Toriel blurted out.

"I hope not." Sans' eyes went dark.

"I haven't felt anything like that from Frisk." Chara said. "So I doubt it." Alice looked confused, but seemed to decide not to question anything.

"Well, we have no leads." Sans sighed. "As far as we know, there's a predator looking for children. So I don't want either of you to go anywhere by yourselves. Understood?"

"Yes, Dunkle Sans." Chara and Alice both said."Can we go out together?" Chara added.

"I need to come with you." Sans said.

"Okay, we're going out to lunch with Alex in a bit."

"Alright." Sans got up. "I'll just sit with you guys a table or two away."

"Sounds good." Chara nodded.

"Text me when you guys get there." Toriel ordered.

"We will." Alice promised.

* * *

 

Chara texted Toriel while they waited for Alex to show up.

"So, feeling better today, Alice?" Chara asked as the girl yawned.

"A bit. I-I'm still tired." Alice replied.

"Well, you had a huge flashback yesterday. I'm not surprised." Chara said.

"Y-yeah." Alice sighed.

"...What's wrong?" Chara asked.

"O-oh, nothing." Alice waved them off.

"No, there's something wrong, I can tell." Chara had a thought. "Linda really did get to you, didn't she?" Alice hesitated before nodding. "That bitch doesn't know what she's talking about. You don't need to linger on it."  
"I know, i-it's just…" Alice sighed. "W-why do I still call him my dad? Why do I still consider him my family?"

"He manipulated you into thinking that everything he did was because of you, that he was just punishing you." Chara said. "He made you think that that was what family does."

_**And you aren't able to change that mindset quite yet.**_  Chara thought to themselves. Alice frowned.

"I guess." She said.

"Family is supposed to discipline you, but not like what your dad was doing. The worst I've been is grounded." Chara said.

"Grounded?" Alice tilted her head, a sign that she didn't know what that was.

"It's basically you can't leave the house for a set amount of time." Chara explained. "You're not allowed to. But it's not forever." They added, seeing Alice's face fall. "And they don't hurt you or anything."

"A-alright." Alice said. "Oh, Alex is here...and Jimmy?"

"Wait, what?" Chara turned to see Alex and Jimmy walking up to them.

"Hey guys." Alex said awkwardly. "Um, Jimmy wanted to come. Is that okay with you guys?"

"Sure, I guess." Chara said, a hint of sarcasm in their voice as they looked at Alice. Alice shrugged too as the twins sat down, an air of tension filling the area around their booth.

"So…" Alex tried to start a conversation, but they were interupted by the waiter, who came for their orders. Alex tried again after the waiter left.

"So, how's the search for Frisk?" Alex asked.

"We have a slight lead, but it's not much." Chara said simply.

"Well, it's better than nothing." Alex said.

"I guess." Chara replied blankly, looking down at their limp arm.

"C-can I just say something?" Jimmy asked. "Look, I'm sorry. I am a huge asshole."

"Yes, but what's your point?" Chara raised an eyebrow. Jimmy glared at them.

"I don't want to just be an asshole. I...Mom wanted me to be a jerk to you two." Jimmy admitted. "She hates monsters and monsterkind and she made me take it out on you two. I'm sorry. I want to change if I can." Chara looked at him suspiciously.

_**I'm not sure if I can trust him. But he didn't seem that into it when he knocked me out at science fair…** _

"Was that what happened at the science fair?" Chara asked. "You didn't exactly seem to be having the time of your life back then." Jimmy frowned.

"Yeah." He put his hands in his pockets. "I..I don't know why, but Mom hates you and Sans. I mean, obviously she's wouldn't wish a kidnapped child on anyone, but she wasn't mourning when Frisk went missing." Chara felt red hot anger burning in their veins.

"Can I trust you?" Chara asked. "Can I trust you not to betray my trust?"

"Yes." Jimmy said, looking them straight in the eyes. Chara stared back.

_**I still don't entirely trust him...but I'm willing to give him a chance.** _

"Alright." Chara nodded. Jimmy sighed in relief.

"Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> QOTC: What's your favorite chapter?  
> AOTC: I'd say, but it isn't posted yet ;)
> 
> See you next time, and feel free to ask questions~


	50. Christmas Party part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Linda's Christmas party.

Chapter 49

 

Sans pulled up to Linda’s house, sighing in frustration. The last week of not being able to search for Frisk had its effect on all of them. Toriel had rapid moodswings, Chara lost the use of their other arm, and had started talking about a pain in their leg, and Alice just stopped. That scared Sans the most.

**_It’s almost as if she’s just given up. She feels useless._ ** He looked in the mirror at the girl and Chara, who was staring at their lap while Alice looked out the window.   
“We’re here.” Sans said. The two looked up, as did Toriel. “Guys, just...I understand that none of us are in a particularly good mood this week, but please, just put on a smile for the sake of Christmas.”

“Why?” Chara asked, their arms laying down by their sides.

“Most people see it as a happy holiday. So just put aside all things just for tonight, and try to enjoy yourselves.” Sans asked of the three.

“We-we’ll try.” Alice said, speaking for the first time in a week. Chara looked at her, and nodded in agreement.

“Alright, let’s go.” Sans said, opening the car so that the other three could get out. The family walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, to be greeted by Alex, who was wearing an ugly christmas sweater.

“Oh, hey guys!” Alex smiled.

“Hey Alex!” Chara smiled as the two kids went with Alex.

“Um, just go ahead and bring the food to the kitchen.” Alex said, nodding to the brownies Toriel was holding and the turkey that Sans was holding.

“Okay, thank you Alex.” Sans smiled at the kid, who smiled back before bringing Alice and Chara to where the other kids were. 

“Well, let’s go, then. Ladies first.” Sans smiled, motioning for Toriel to go ahead.

“Oh, stop.” Toriel smiled before walking past Sans to the kitchen, where the two could see several parents were there already. Linda was pouring from a box of wine, Helen was clearly already tipsy, Diane was sharing something in a mug with her own husband, as well as drinking some wine, and David was reading a newspaper, a mug of something next to him. Carol and her husband were there as well, Carol holding a small glass of something.

“Oh, hello there, Dreemurrs!” Jay smiled and greeted them, as Carol shot down the glass. “Carol I told you not to...take...shots…” Jay frowned. “I’m sorry, one sec. You can put the food down on the table. Carol, you said you wouldn’t get drunk tonight.” Jay went over to his wife to take away the shotglass. “Anyways, I don’t know if either of you are drinking tonight, but if you are, the wine is over by where Linda and Helen are, I don’t know where Carol got this vodka from, and there’s a thing of hot chocolate on the table.”

“Okay, thank you, Jay.” Sans smiled. “By the way, I don’t know if we ever formally met. I’m Sans. Sans the skeleton. This is Toriel. Chara and Alice are our kids.” Sans and Toriel shook his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Jay. Jack, Emalie, and Timmy are me and Carol’s children.” Jay introduced himself. “I wanted to thank you for letting them babysit on such short notice. The kids had an excellent time.”

“You’re very welcome. Chara and Alice had a good time as well.” Sans replied.

“Yes, that’s what they both said.” Jay nodded. “Carol, why don’t you sit down? Hold on one sec.” He went to get her a cup of hot chocolate.

“Hey Tori, do you want some as well?” Sans asked. Toriel nodded. Sans walked over and grabbed a mug from the table and filled it with hot chocolate, and then put in marshmellows and a candy cane. He brought it back to Toriel and handed it to her. She had been sitting down next to the drunk Carol and was listening to her talk.

“Thank you, Sans.” Toriel nodded as she took the drink from him.

“Y’see, Courtney was an amazin’ dancer.” Carol rambled. “She loveed ballet.”

“Yes, she did.” Toriel nodded.

“She wass gonnabe a principal dancer with Julliard Conservatory.” Carol went on before Jay came back.

“Alright, here you go, Carol.” Jay said, handing her the mug. Carol took a drink. A sudden commotion interupted them as they heard a glass fall and break. Sans turned to see Helen and Linda in a glareoff, Linda with an open hand.

“What did you just say to me?” Linda demanded.

“You’re a lying whore.” Helen repeated. “You cheater.”

“I am not a cheater.” Linda retorted, but all the parents in the room (And an unfortunate Jimmy, who had happened to come in for food) had their eyes on Linda, her husband having a confused look on his face.

“Why are you constantly with the principal then? I know why. You’re fucking the principal for your own benefit.” Everyone was surprised except for Sans and Jimmy. Sans took out a bottle of ketchup as he watched the fight unfold, and then bekoned Jimmy to him.

“Film this.” Sans said, giving the kid his phone. Jimmy nodded and started filming.

“Am not!” Linda retorted like a child.

“You’re always late coming from him, and you’re always a mess.” Helen said. “Don’t lie to me. I can tell.”

“I am not lying!” Linda retorted. It was then that Helen slapped her. And then Linda punched her back.

Sans enjoyed the sight of Linda getting her ass kicked.

“Oh dear, it looks like Helen’s really whaling on her.” Toriel said.

“She deserves it.” Sans shrugged.

“True.” Toriel said, finishing her drink.

“Your husband loves you! Can’t you see that?” Helen yelled as she pulled Linda’s hair. Linda grabbed her sweater. 

“Unlike mine!”   
“Your husband divorcing you is none of my issue.” Linda snapped.

“You’re t-throwing your relationship to shit!” Helen said, suddenly letting go of Linda, letting her fly. Sans could see tears in her eyes. “You bitch.” Helen walked off towards the kids.

“What happened?” Sans blinked.

“You didn’t know?” Diane’s husband asked from where he was sitting with Diane.

“Nope.” Sans shook his head.

“Helen and her husband are getting a divorce. It’s...a bit of a nasty situation. It’s why Ashley and Anna are so close.” He explained.

“Oh.” Sans frowned. How come he had never realized what happened?

“Huh.” David put down the paper he was reading.

“What happened?” Sans asked him.

“Another kidnapping.” He muttered. “Damn bastard.”

“Who went missing this time?” Sans asked.

“A girl named Carrie.” David took a swing out of his mug.

“It’s mostly girls who are going missing.” Sans realized all of a sudden.

**_What if Toriel is right...in that case...Frisk!_ **

“You’d better find Frisk quick, then.” David said, his line of thought obviously going where Sans’ had.

“Don’t worry.” Sans said. “We will.” He added, his eyes going dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Early update this week :D  
> I just wanted to say, thank you so much for all of your support! I really, really appreciate it.  
> I'm...kinda going through a couple of things right now irl, and just reading your comments helps to cheer me up. So thank you all so much <3  
> Anyways, feel free to ask me stuff! See you guys next week~


	51. Christmas Party part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas party at Linda's.

Chapter 51

 

Chara sat with Alice and Alex, watching the other kids play around while they drank hot chocolate.

“T-this is really good!” Alice commented, gulping hers down.

“Thank you. I made it.” Alex added. Chara attempted to lean down and drink their drink from a straw. After all, not having the use of both arms made it awfully hard to grab things.

**_I’m just glad that I’ve got friends like Alice and Alex._ ** They thought as Jimmy walked back into the room. Jimmy handed them a phone.

“What’s this?” Alex asked.

“Mom and Helen got in a fight.” Jimmy explained. “It’s Sans’ phone, so just keep it after you’re done watching.”

Chara, Alice, and Alex watched the fight as they both laughed between the estranged sight of the two moms fighting and a drunk Carol cheering on Helen in the background.

“Jimmy, why are you being nice to those losers?” Anna demanded. Jimmy glared at her.

“They aren’t losers, they’re my brother and his friends. Don’t be rude.” He snapped back. Anna recoiled and nodded.

**_Maybe he is really trying to be a good person…?_ **

“Kids!” They all looked up at the voice of Ashley’s dad. “Time to open presents!”

***

The fireplace room was very clean and pretty. The black rug on top of cream tile matched perfectly with the color scheme of the room.

**_Linda must have spent a lot of time cleaning._ ** Chara thought.  **_Or possibly, just her husband or whoever she hired._ ** The parents- Linda with an ice pack on her chin- brought the various presents in.

“Alright, who wants to go first?” Sans asked.

“Me! I do!” Anna jumped up. Sans handed her a present. It was a smaller package, with silver wrapping paper that had ‘Let it Snow’ on it. She ripped apart the package to find…

“Candy!” Anna yelled out happily. Several packs of various candy fell out when she opened the package. Helen sighed. 

“Just what you need.” Helen commented, shaking her head. She presented a long, box shaped present to Alice. She opened it to reveal a board game.

“‘Monopoly’.” Alice read off the box as she looked at the present she opened.

“Board game.” Chara explained.

“Oh, cool.” Alice said as she moved to open Chara’s present for them. It was the largest present out of them, being a large barrel shape. Alice opened it to reveal that it was a barrel of...something.

“What are these?” Chara asked, frowning as the orange ball things in the package.

“They’re cheeseballs.” Alex explained. “You’re lucky, they’re amazing.”

“I’ll have to try them.” Chara commented as Alex opened her present. Chara gasped in surprise.

“Makeup!” Alex smiled. 

**_That was the makeup we bought at the mall a while back!_ ** Chara realized, looking at Alice and Alex. Alex suddenly looked back as the makeup was taken out of her hands by Linda.

“Mom!” Alex said, startled.

“Does anyone want to trade with Alex?” Linda asked. Alex shook her head.

“Mom, I don’t want to trade.” Alex said. “Makeup’s cool.”

“Alex, you’re a boy. Makeup’s for girls.” Linda replied. Alex frowned. 

“I don’t care. I like makeup.” Alex snapped. Linda glared at her. Suddenly Alex paled and the tension in the room increased, as a single thought popped into Chara’s mind.

**_Did Alex just accidentally out herself to her mom?_ **

“We will talk about this later.” Linda said, which caused Alex to sigh and look down in worry. “In any case, does anyone want to trade?” Linda repeated.

“I-I’ll trade.” Alice sighed. The two friends reluctantly traded the makeup for the board game.

The next present went to Jimmy. This one was a flat present, almost like a thin book.

“Oh, it’s Call of Duty.” Jimmy said, smiling. “Thanks, whoever gave this.”

“Shoes!” Ashley opened her box shaped present to find the small kitten heels. “And they’re the right size, too!” Diane chuckled under her breath, which made Chara wonder if that was their present to Ashley. Diane’s husband gave an oddly wrapped present to Jack.

“Oh, it’s….a stuffed animal…” Jack frowned as Chara stifled a laugh. Linda handed the next one to Emalie.

“It’s a barbie doll!” Emalie gasped as she opened the package. ‘Thank you!” She smiled as she hugged it.

“You’re welcome.” Helen smiled as Linda handed the second to last present to Timmy.

“Of course.” Jay sighed as it turned out to be a nerf gun. “Well, it seems he’s happy.” That was right for sure. Timmy was laughing loudly as he grabbed the nerf gun, and he loaded it and shot his sister.

“Hey!” Emalie jumped as he shot her, and she went to chase him around the house. Carol was asleep with her head resting on Jay, so he couldn’t get up to grab the two unruly kids.

“And here’s the last present.” Linda gave the small present to Tommy. He opened it to find a dual pack of lipstick and eyeshadow.

“Oh, that must have been meant for one of the girls. Do you want to trade with someone?” Linda asked.

“Nah, I’m good. Thank you.” Tommy said.

“David? What do you think?” Linda asked his dad.

“It’s up to Tommy.” David shrugged, surprising everyone. “What? Even an old fart like me can change.” He laughed as he rubbed Tommy’s hair. Tommy smiled slightly, and Chara swore they could see him sigh in relief.

“It’s good that you’re letting him do what he wants.” Sans commented, throwing some slight shade at Linda. “That’s so important for a kid to be able to express themselves.”

“It really is.” David replied. A couple of the kids giggled. 

“Hey, let’s go to get something to eat or drink.” Chara said to Alex and Alice. They both nodded, and the three went to the kitchen and got Chara a hot chocolate, which Alice tried to help them to drink by putting a straw in it.

“What happened there?” Chara asked. “With the makeup?”

“I have no idea!” Alex put her hands to her head. “I didn’t expect Mom to do that.”

“We can t-trade back if you want.” Alice offered.

“No thanks.” Alex said. “You can have the board game back, but I don’t want the makeup now.”

“G-got it.” Alice nodded.

“Oh god, what have I done!?” Alex asked. “If mom finds out,” She whispered. “I’m done for. Out of the house.”

“You could probably just say that you were upset that she just took it from you and didn’t even ask you if you wanted to trade it.” Chara pointed out. Alice shook her head.

“No, that’ll make her t-think that s-she wanted the makeup.” Alice pointed out.

“Ugh, I don’t know  _ what _ I’m going to say.” Alex groaned.

“W-wait, what if you lied and said it was going to be given to someone a-at school?” Alice suggested.

“That’s a good idea.” Alex sighed. “I’ll use that one.”

“Hey, Alice, Chara.” Sans walked in. “We have to go now. Thank you for inviting us, Alex.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you guys at school.” Alex said.

“Bye, Alex.” Chara and Alice both said as they left the room with Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update again~
> 
> See you next time!
> 
> Skater


	52. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas day with the Dreemurrs.

Chapter 52

 

Chara woke up a couple days later, smiling. They looked at the time and saw it was 6 in the morning. Quickly getting up, they walk over to Alice to jump on her. “Surprise!” They yelled, causing Alice to jump.

“Agh! Um, p-please don’t do that.” Alice frowned.

“Oh, sorry.” Chara said. “It’s Christmas.” They added. Alice looked at them for a second, and then smiled.

“Christmas!” Alice yelled back, jumping up. The two raced each other downstairs, making more noise at the sight of the presents underneath the tree. Sans and Toriel came down a few minutes later.

“Kids, it’s still early.” Sans muttered as he went into the kitchen to grab some coffee. Toriel sat down.

“Now, my children, I know it’s Christmas.” Toriel seemed excited. “But it’s also your first Christmases! So, wait until Sans gets back in here, and then feel free to open up presents.”

“Yes, mom.” Both Chara and Alice said at the same time, beaming at the presents under the tree. Alice seemed very excited.

“Oh! L-let me go grab my presents.” Alice ran back upstairs. She came back downstairs with a small bag. Chara tilted their head.

**_When did she have time to get that?_ **

“Alright, I’m back.” Sans said, coming back with a cup of coffee. He pulled a camera out of nowhere. “Let’s do this. Alice, you first.” Alice jumped up and looked through the presents, looking occasionally at Sans and Toriel as she looked for her present. When neither one seemed to be stopping her, she grabbed one that had her name on it. She pulled it back over to where Chara was sitting. They smiled, recognising their present.

“Alright, t-this one is from you, Chara.” Alice said, trying to find the edge of the packaging, She opened it carefully, leaving the packaging intact as she pulled out the diary that Chara got her. “What’s this?”

“It’s a diary.” Chara explained. “You can write in it. Whatever you want to write.” Alice opened it to see a lock and a key, as well as a pen. She smiled.

“Thank you so much!” Alice squealed as she hugged Chara. Chara froze, and then let themselves be hugged.

“You’re welcome.” Chara smiled. “Now, go see what Mom and Sans got you.” Alice got up and went back to the tree, picking up a present that had red and green wrapping paper. When she opened it, it turned out to be a phone. Alice picked it up, tilting her head.

“It’s your own cell phone. We thought you’d like it.” Sans explained, taking a drink of coffee.

“Thank you!” Alice beamed as she walked up and hugged the two. She went back to the bag and held it up. “I, u-um, have some presents for you, as well.” She pulled something out of the bag and put it into Sans’ and Toriel’s hands, and in front of Chara. The three looked to see a small thing of several hundred dollars.

“Alice, how’d you get this?” Sans asked, shocked.

“I f-found it when Chara and I went back to my old house.” Alice explained. “It w-was in o-one of the drawers.”

“Thank you so much, Alice.” Toriel smiled. “Chara, your turn for presents.”

“Thank you, Alice.” Chara added as they went up to use magic to grab their present.

 **_Good thing I_ ** **can** **_use magic._ ** They thought as they opened the silver package to see that their parents had got them a toy knife. it was made of rubber, but still, they appreciated it.

“Thank you!” Chara smiled. Alice tilted her head, a look of worry in her eyes. “Don’t worry, it’s fake.” Chara reassured her, as Alice got closer and looked at the fake knife. “I’ve got something for both of you as well.” Chara added. “Alice, could you grab it for me?”

“Sure.” Alice nodded as she ran upstairs and grabbed the bag. She ran back down and gave the bag to Sans and Toriel.

“Heh, thanks kiddo.” Sans thanked Chara as he pulled out the ketchup.

“Thank you, my child.” Toriel smiled as she pulled out the baby supplies.

“You’re welcome.” Chara smiled back.

“Well, I’m going to go make some hot cocoa.” Toriel got up. “Do either of you want one?”

“Yes please!” Chara immediately replied. Alice nodded as well. Toriel went back into the kitchen.

“Sans, do you mind if I teleport to Alex’s house? I have a present for him as well, but Linda will never let me in the door.” Chara asked. Sans shook his head.

“Let me take you. You can teleport from there.” Sans said. Chara sighed.

“Alright.” They agreed.

“‘sides, I have something to do as well.” Sans added. “Hey Tori, we’ll be right back. Chara wants to give Alex a christmas present.”

“Alright, be right back!” Toriel called from the kitchen.

* * *

Chara sighed as they pulled up to the house.

“Alright, I’ll be back in about 10 minutes. Enough time?” Sans asked.

“Should be.” Chara nodded.

“Alright, see ya.” Sans said as they teleported into Alex and Jimmy’s room, under the bed.

“Merry Christmas!” Alex yelled to Jimmy, throwing a pillow at him.

“Ugh, it’s still early.” Jimmy muttered.

“Not too early for Christmas!” Alex cheered.

 **_I guess siblings all act similar._ ** Chara though, recalling what they had done with Alice earlier.

“Heya.” They crawled out from under the bed, causing Alex to jump.

“GAHH! How long have you been there?” Alex demanded.

“Not long.” Chara let the bag slip from their shoulder. “I got you two Christmas presents.” The two opened the bag to show the Nerf guns that Chara got for both of them.

“Awesome, thanks!” Alex smiled and grabbed one immediately, shooting Jimmy.

“Hey!” Jimmy grabbed the other one and shot her back.

“Welp, I’m getting out of here before I get shot. See you at school!” Chara said.

“Wait! Let me get you your present.” Alex grabbed the present and put it in the bag, helping Chara to put it back over their shoulder.

“Awesome! I’ll thank you on Monday.” Chara said. “I should probably get going before Linda comes up.”

“Good idea.” Jimmy said.

“See ya.” Alex smiled.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sans walked up to the house a few streets down. He was pretty sure this was the right house, from what he knew. He knocked on the door, and sure enough, Anna opened it, blinking in surprise at the sight of the skeleton.

“Why are you here?” Anna asked, tilting her head.

“I need to ask your mom something.” Sans explained.

“...Okay.” Anna nodded. “Um, feel free to come in, I guess?” Anna invited him in, leading him to the living room. Suddenly, he heard arguing from upstairs.

“You miiight want to hide under the couch.” Anna warned him. He nodded and went under, seeing Anna sit on the couch as her parents came down.

“Well, just leave if you can’t stand it!” Helen snapped.

“Maybe I will!” Her husband growled. “And when we get these damn papers, you won’t have a cent to your name!”

“Better than living with you!” Helen yelled as he left and slammed the door. She sat down on the couch next to Anna and put her head in her hands. “Anna, what am I going to do?”

“I don’t know, mom.” Anna sighed.

 **_It’s a lot worse than she made it sound…_ ** Sans thought. He teleported outside, and then knocked on the door. Helen opened it this time.

“Oh! Sans.” She said, surprised. “Come in.” She invited him back in, and he saw a confused look on Anna’s face.

“Shortcuts.” Sans explained. “Anyways, I had a Christmas present for you.” He held out half of the couple hundred that Alice gave him. Helen held her hand to her mouth in shock.

“Wha…? How did…” Helen started to ask.

“Alice gave it to me. I have no need for it. I want you to take it.” Sans explained. Helen looked at him, and took it from him.

“Thank you so much! I…” Helen frowned. “My husband is the one who works a highpaying job. But we’re, well, divorcing, and he’s taking most of the money.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Sans asked. Helen nodded.

“Yes. He’s refusing to let us have much more than the house. And he won’t pay for morgage or anything.” Helen explained. “This...this helps us so much. Thank you!”

“You’re very welcome.” Sans smiled. “I have to get back to the house now. Merry Christmas, Helen.”

“Merry Christmas, Sans.” Helen smiled as she led him out.

* * *

Sans sighed, looking down at the two kids as the family played Monopoly. They had started arguing lightly over a couple of the buildings.

“Hey, that’s not fair!”

“What? I-it’s not my fault you’re terrible at playing this.”

“Shut up! It's hard to play without arms!”

Toriel giggled slightly as she enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate, holding Sans tightly next to her.

“My turn.” She said as the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.” Sans got up and went to the door, his hands in his pockets. Opening it, he saw Liliane. “Oh, heya.”

“Hi.” Liliane said. “I think we’re getting closer to finding Frisk.”

“That’s great news!” Sans smiled.

“Yep.” Liliane nodded. “We found some of their DNA. We’re getting closer for sure.”

“Thank you.” Sans said, feeling much happier.

**_This is an amazing Christmas present. They’re closer to finding Frisk, and we all have each other._ **

“Oh, I almost forgot. I got something for you.” Sans pulled the other half of the money that Alice gave him out of nowhere and gave it to Liliane, who gasped in shock.

“Where’d you get this?” She asked.

“Alice gave me it. But honestly, I’ve got no use for it.” Sans shrugged. “It’s yours. You deserve it for helping us so much.”

“Thank you so much.” Liliane smiled as she gave him a tight hug. “I’ll go lookign for them more-”  
“No, go ahead and go home.” Sans said.  
“What?” Liliane blinked, surprised.

“I’m sure you’ve got family of your own to spend time with for Christmas.” Sans waved her off. “Go ahead and head home. Frisk’ll still be there tomorrow. Chara’s not horribly hurt, which means that they’re fine.”

“Isn’t not being able to use their arms being horribly hurt?” Liliane raised an eyebrow.

“Not really.” Sans said. “Frisk’ll be fine. You go ahead and spend Christmas with your family.”

“...Alright.” Liliane sighed. “At the very least, I’ll go home. Maybe make myself some hot cocoa or something. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said. “Thank you again for the money!”

“You’re welcome.” Sans waved as she drove off. He shut the door and headed back to his family, taking a sip of his hot cocoa.

 **_If only Frisk were here._ ** He sighed. **_Then, this would be perfect._ ** He imagined a year from now. Frisk was back. He imagined what his and Toriel’s child might look like. Alice was there, smiling gently. And even Chara was there, possibly gently arguing with thw two over Monopoly again.

**_If I could just take a picture of that and keep it forever. And just keep that perfect moment, that perfect family, forever._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably just gonna update on Saturdays from now on.
> 
> Also, a little update on my life: I am currently not skating whatsoever due to my head. In about two months or so, I should be able to get back on the ice fully, without limitations. It might be longer, might be shorter, the doctor wasn't sure, but we're just guessing.
> 
> Feel free to ask me stuff!
> 
> See you next week~


	53. Betrayed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans, Chara, and Alice discover that someone who has been helping them, really hasn't...

Chapter 53

 

“Alrighty, so school today.” Sans said, driving the two kids to the school. Alice went to grab Chara’s backpack, but was stopped as out of reflex, Chara went to grab it, dropping their right arm to grab the backpack. The two kids paused.

“Did you just-” Alice asked. Chara was in shock.

“This means…” Chara jumped up. “Sans! Frisk is nearby somewhere!”   
“What? How do you know?” Sans looked back as Chara smacked their right hand onto the cupholder and open and closed their fist. “Alrighty, they’re nearby somewhere. I know Liliane said not to, but how’s about we skip school for today and go looking for them?”

“Hell yeah.” Chara nodded. Sans turned out of the school parking lot.

“Where did you feel Frisk before?” Sans asked. Chara told him the way as he drove. By the time they got back to Alice’s house, Chara had regained the use of their right arm.

“Alright, so they’re here for sure.” Chara said. “We looked in your house before, how about we look at the next one?”

“Sounds good.” Alice shrugged.

They continued on, seeing all sorts of houses quite a bit away.

“Alright, let’s start here.” Chara knocked on the first door and stepped back. An older woman opened it.

“Hello! We’re looking for a lost child.” Sans said, and handed her a picture of Frisk. She took it and held it up to her face.

“Sorry, I haven’t seen them.” She said in a creaky, old-lady tone. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t help those of  _ your _ kind.” She directed towards Sans. “I wouldn’t be suprised if they just ran away from you!”

“You-” Chara started.

“Alright. Thank you anyways.” Sans said as he stopped Chara and the old lady slammed the door. “Some people are going to be xenophobic like that. You learn to just deal with it after a while.” Chara thought they sensed some sadness in his tone.

“Anyways, let’s go to the next house.” Sans said as he knocked on the door. This time, a college-aged man opened the door.

“You’re not Kelly.” He said.

“Nope.” Chara shook their head. “We’re looking for my sibling, Frisk.” Sans handed him the picture.

“Sorry, haven’t seen them. I’ll keep an eye out while I’m on my date, though.” He promised.

“Thank you so much.” Sans nodded as he closed the door. “Alright, next house.” He knocked on the next door. Music blasted as the man opened it. He was obviously drunk.

“He-hello *hic* there.” He hiccupped.

“Heya.” Sans said. “Have you seen this kid? They went missing a few weeks ago.” He held the picture to the man.

“Nah, haven’t seen ‘em.” He said, taking a swig of a beer. “Yo, do you or your friends wanna’join us? We got shots and everythin’.” He burped. Chara frowned.

**_Can he not tell that Alice and I are underage? Or that Sans is a skeleton?_ **

“We’re good, thank you.” Sans said.

“Yo man! Another round!” Someone yelled from inside the party.

“Gotta go.” He said. “Sorr’bout your kid.” He slurred as he closed the door.

“Alright, that didn’t help. You had weird neighbors, Alice.” Chara commented.

“Hey, this is my f-first time meeting them too.” Alice retorted.

“So, you said some of them are shady?” Sans asked.

“Yeah. D-dad told me there are some ‘dealers’ and ‘perverts’ and that ‘l-little girls shouldn’t go down the s-street at all, let alone alone’.” Alice said, obviously having no idea what those words meant.

“Well, despite your dad and everything he did to you, he did have a point. Those are some bad people.” Sans said. “Dealers sell stuff that changes them to be worse, and perverts are on the same level as your dad for things they’ll do to you.”

“R-really?” Alice looked horrified. 

“Yeah.” Chara nodded.

“You’re r-really gonna have to e-explain some of this to me.” Alice sighed.

**_I’m not looking forward to that…_ **

“Well, now onto the next house.” Sans knocked on the door.

An older man opened, and Chara instinctively pulled Alice back.

“What do  _ you _ want?” He demanded.

“We’re looking for another child.” Sans explained. “They were kidnapped a few hours ago and we think the kidnapper went down this street.” The older man looked Chara up and down in a way that made them uncomfortable.

“I  _ could _ help you. For a pri-”

“We’re not interested.” Sans interupted. “Goodbye.” He let Chara and Alice walk ahead of him as he kept an eye on the older man, but Chara could still feel him staring at them as they walked away. 

“What d-did he want?” Alice asked.

Sans looked at Chara and signed,  _ She’s a bit more innocent, isn’t she? _

_ Yep _ . Chara signed back.

“Me.” Chara said.

“Why would h-he want to adopt you?” Alice asked.

“That’s not...I’ll explain later.” Chara sighed.

“W-wait! Come back here!” The man said. Sans sighed. 

“Stay right here, you two. I’m keeping an eye on both of you.” He walked back up and talked to the old man.

**_Sheesh, that guy_ ** **has** **_to be a pedophile...I wonder if he knows if Frisk is here. I hope not._ **

“So, what’s the d-deal with him?” Alice asked. “That old man? H-he seemed kinda...c-creepy.”

“Um…” Chara tried to figure out how to put it. “There are some people who are messed up in the head and are attracted to children.” Alice looked shocked.

“What?” 

“They’re called ‘pedophiles’.” Chara explained.

“Lover of children…” Alice muttered to herself. “T-that’s what it means. ‘Pedo’ is a greek prefix for ‘Children’ and ‘phile’ is a latin sufix for love.”

“Oh.” Chara said. “Makes sense.”

“Unlike what they are.” Chara had to laugh at that as Sans came back and the man shut the door.

“I managed to get it out of him what he needed. He said that he had seen a woman walk a kid that matched the description of Frisk down to a house across the street.”

“Did he get a description on the woman with him?” Chara asked.

“Nope. He was more focused on Frisk.” He gritted his teeth as his eyes went dark.

“Oh.” Chara looked at Alice. “Well, let’s head to that street.” They crossed the street and knocked on the door, only for the woman to open the door. She wore her police uniform, and had a cup of coffee, and looked exausted, but she was still recognizable. She dropped her cup in shock, which dropped to the ground and shattered, spraying coffee everywhere. Sans stared up at her in shock.

“Liliane?”

“Sans?” Liliane managed to get out.

“Where’s Frisk?” Chara demanded. “I can feel them.” They added, lifting up their left arm. “Where the  _ hell _ are they?” They looked past to see the child. They were an inch taller, but otherwise, seemed unharmed. 

“Friisk!” Chara and Alice ran to hug them, and they hugged the two back.

“Liliane.” Sans’ eyes went dark as he pinned Liliane to the ceiling using his magic. “What the  _ hell? _ You were supposed to be helping us! Why didn’t you tell us you had them!?” He slammed her on the ground and brought her back to the ceiling. “Do you know how fucking stressed Tori has been? She’s pregnant. She could have lost the baby from all the stress!”

“C-clarisse! Help me!” Liliane called out.

“Clarisse isn’t here. She’s dead, you told us that yourself! Or is that another lie?” Sans growled.

“No, s-she’s here.” Liliane pointed to Frisk. Sans’ eyes came back as he was confused.

Then, it hit him the same time it hit Chara.

“Frisk...is Liliane your biological mother?” Chara asked them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to ask me more questions.
> 
> See you next time~


	54. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They find out why Liliane kidnapped Frisk.

Chapter 54

A single, small nod was all it took for Sans to drop Liliane. He looked at her in shock.

_**She's an officer. Why would she, of all people, stoop to kidnapping?** _

Betrayed. That was the only thing that Sans could feel in that moment. He clenched his fists, looking at the woman he had once called a friend.

"I...I h-have a lot to explain." Liliane sighed. "Would you like something to drink?"

"I already had coffee today. Thank you, though." Sans said stifly. Liliane sighed.

"I...I really do have a reason for my behavior. It's no excuse, I know, but…"

"You're damn right it isn't." Sans growled. Liliane frowned.

"L-look, I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for her, okay?" Liliane snapped.

" _Them._ Frisk goes by gender neutral pronouns." Sans retorted.

"Fine, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for _them_." Liliane countered. "Happy?"

"Not really." Sans muttered.

"Look, let me explain." Liliane said. "I was born into a very conservative family, that was entirely pro-life. I...I didn't mean to have Frisk." She looked down suddenly. "I didn't...I, no, we were both drunk out of our minds. The day after, he left. Disappeared off the face of the planet. I have no idea what happened to him. The important part is, that I wound up pregnant with Frisk. Mama let me know that I would have no support from her whatsoever if I got an abortion, so I didn't. Both her and all of my friends told me that I had become a stereotype. A twenty year old black girl, in college, and I was pregnant. They told me to drop out, that I would never be able to become an officer. I believed them." Sans listened, his eyes darkening.

"Until I had Clarisse. Holding her in my arms…" She curled up her arms below her chest, as if cuddling a baby. "...I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to be an example for my little girl."

"So I did it. I graduated a full year early, and made it as a police officer, top of my class. My friends all ditched me, and when I went to tell Mama, she hung up and blocked me." Suddenly, Liliane seemed sad again.

_**She's been through a lot.**_ Sans realized. _**Still doesn't condone kidnapping, though.**_

"I moved to here by myself, with a kid, to work with the police force. I often times had her on the job with me if I wasn't on a dangerous mission. I didn't want to leave her with a babysitter. Not in this neighborhood." Liliane shook her head.

"Why did you move into this neighborhood anyways?" Sans asked.

"It's cheap." Liliane explained. "It looks like a cheaphouse except for that house on the end. Bet they must have had a lot of money." Sans looked back at the other room, where Chara and Alice were talking to Frisk.

_**That was where Alice lived...ironic that an officer lived in the same neighborhood that had an abusive family in it, huh?** _

"Anyways, so I had Clarisse with me all the time. But, I noticed that she was a bit...different from most kids I had seen." Liliane said. "I took her to a doctor, who diagnosed her with autism. I taught her sign language, but I noticed that she mould have random hand motions or tapping or whatever that wasn't signing. I asked the doctor, who explained that it was stimming. The doctor said to hold her hands down whenever she did that, that it would teach her not to stim." Sans froze at that.

"Did...did the doctor say that it was good for her?" He asked, absolutely shocked.

"Yes. Why?" Liliane asked.

"Quiet hands." Sans said.

"Yes, that's what he said it was called." Liliane nodded.

"Liliane, that's actually incredibly abusive." Sans said. She looked absolutely horrified.

"What?"

"It causes trauma." Liliane held her head in her hands in horror.

"I..I wa-was abusive towards them…? No…"  
"You didn't know." Sans realized, feeling slight guilt at being so snappy.

"No, I-I didn't. I can't…" Liliane zoned out.

"Finish your story." Sans said.

"Well, I didn't know why at the time, but Clarisse ran away when she was 9, two years ago. We couldn't find her anywhere, and she was declared dead. I called up Mama on a payphone and told her what happened. She...she basically said that that was w-what I deserved for getting pregnant as a teen, and to never call her again. She hung up, and we lost all contact." Liliane admitted. "I...I grew depressed after Clarisse ran. I put myself into my work, but I could see the darkness coming over me." Liliane took a breath. "You know what it's like to be depressed? It's like a dark abyss, struggling to reach the light. You can just see happiness and the light above you, just barely a couple inches above you. Depression is the chain keeping you in the pit, keeping you from reaching the light. The pit then fills with up slowly with water, but the chain is keeping you down, keeping you from rising, until, one day, you can't take it anymore, and you stop fighting. You give up. You realize you'll never reach the light, and you just give in to the water and loneliness and crushing sadness." She described. "I...I decided to give in. I was going to shoot myself the day I drove by the school and saw Clarisse- erm, Frisk. I...I know that nothing condones what I've done, but, I couldn't stop myself. I didn't even realize what I had done until we were back at my house. I changed them out of their clothes and gave you them as 'evidence'. I found their glasses at the pond." Liliane said. "I...I framed them being kidnapped. I'm sorry." Sans was silent for a long time.

_**What do I do? Do I forgive her? Do I not? We're going to have to go to court if she refuses to give them up. Should I ask Tori for advice?** _

"L-look, I'm not the best parent. I was kinda thrown into it." Liliane admitted. "I...I didn't realize that Quiet Hands was abusive. The doctor told me it was natural for them to struggle. I didn't know…if I had known, I never…" Liliane put her head in her hands. Sans took the time to text Toriel.

* * *

 

Sans: we found Frisk.

Toriel: What? Where were they?

Sans: don't just jump on me, but they were at liliane's house.

Toriel: WHAT? The officer!? Please tell me that she found them and was just holding them for us

Sans: nope. it seems that liliane was the kidnapper.

Toriel: I'm coming to her house. Where does she live?

Sans: tori, let me explain

Toriel: Where. Is. Her. House.

* * *

 

Sans sighed and sent her the address.

* * *

 

Sans: tori, liliane is frisk's mom.

* * *

 

No response. Sans sighed and turned off his phone, looking back at Liliane, who had stopped crying and wiped tears from her eyes.

"I...I can't believe it. I…" She said quietly. "Mama was right. I'm not fit to be a parent. I should have just given them up for adoption. Why did I try to prove them all wrong?"

"...If you hadn't raised them the way you did…" Sans started. "We would all still be underground. They wouldn't have ran away, and we wouldn't be here now. So much would have been different. So even if you didn't know how terrible it was for them, you did it because a doctor- someone you trusted- told you it was good. That, shows me more than anything, that you _are_ a good mother, because you were willing to do anything for your child." He said. "Even if it didn't turn out in your favor. However, the point still stands; You kidnapped a child. Even if your reasons were legitimate." Liliane nodded.

"I'll go on trial and plead guilty. I just…" She frowned. "About custody-"

"YOU!" Toriel burst in, anger in her brown eyes. Sans stood up.

"Tori, wait-"

"No! She kidnapped our Frisk! Are they okay?" Toriel demanded.

"Tori. Let me explain-"

"Where. Is. Frisk?" Toriel demanded.

"They're in the kitchen. But Tori, let me explain-" But Toriel had already headed ot the kitchen and came out holding the child, flanked by Chara and Alice.

"Oh, my child! Are you okay? Did _she_ hurt you?" Toriel shot a death glare at Liliane when she mentioned her. Frisk shook their head.

_No, but Mom-_

"Now, I'm glad she didn't hurt you. But, I need to fight her now." Toriel put Frisk down. Liliane flinched and grabbed the nearest object- a pillow- to protect herself.

_Mom! No!_ Frisk grabbed onto her leg, refusing to let go. Toriel tried to shake them off, until Sans put his hand on her shoulder.

"Tori. Did you get my last text?" Sans asked.

"You sent me her address." Toriel frowned, confused. Sans shook his head.

"Not that one."

"Not that one?" Toriel tilted her head, confused.

"Tori, Liliane is Frisk's biological mother." Sans explained. Toriel's eyes widened in shock, as she looked from her child to the scared officer in front of her. Liliane slowly put down the pillow and stood up, not taking her eyes off of the goat mother.

"Well." Toriel said. "I must say, I do see a resemblance."

"Frisk was born as Clarisse Sarkozy, my daughter." Liliane said, beckoning Frisk closer to her. "I understand now that that's not how they want to identify as. But I made a horrible mistake, one that I regret horribly, and I lost them for two years. I made another mistake trying to get them back. Honestly, I didn't even know what I had taken them away from until I got the call for you guys." Liliane put her hand gently on Frisk's shoulder, as they stood next to her. It made Sans wonder how exactly Liliane had managed to grab Frisk.

_**After all, they are the same height...Then again, Liliane is a police officer. I'd be surprised if she couldn't lift someone the same height or taller than her.** _

"And then...I...I couldn't bring myself to let go of them. They saved my life by me finding them. Literally. And I just... you know. You're a mother too. You would never want to lose your children." Liliane said. "About what I was saying before. With custody. I...I don't mind if you guys keep custody. I...I'm not fit to be a full time parent. I was thrown into it, I had no support. I can't do it." Liliane shook her head. "I still want to be able to visit them, don't get me wrong. But, I...I'm not fit to be a parent." She looked away. Suddenly, Frisk hugged her. She froze.

_You're not a bad mom._ They signed. _You're just inexperienced._

"They're right." Toriel said all of sudden, surprising everyone. "All new mothers start out inexperienced. I did myself. You just had a disadvantage of not having a good support system."

"Exactly. I'm sure that if you had had the support of Frisk's father and your own mother and friends, you would be much more confident about parenting." Sans agreed.

"...I guess." Liliane frowned. "Just...I think it'd be better for them if they stayed with you." She looked away. Frisk frowned.

"Okay." They said quietly. "I love you, mommy." They walked back towards Toriel. Liliane didn't look up.

"Have a nice day, Liliane." Sans said as the family of five left her house and got into the car.

* * *

 

"Oh, Frisk, I am so happy to have you back!" Toriel had not put down the child since they had gotten back to the house. Frisk smiled, hugging closer into her fur.

"Tori, how's the baby doing?" Sans asked, enjoying a cup of hot cocoa as he ruffled Chara's hair and put his arm around Alice's shoulders. Flowey looked at them, smiling.

"She's fine. It's odd, actually." Toriel commented. "She hasn't moved at all."

"Really?" Sans tilted his head.

"Correct." Toriel nodded. "I'll ask Alphys to check it out later. In the meantime, however, we have something we must do." Toriel put Frisk down for the first time since getting home, and left the room, coming back with a present. "Now that you are back, my child, we can actually celebrate Christmas." Frisk squealed happily and took the present from her.

"We have a present for you too! We'll get it for you once you open that one." Chara said. Frisk nodded and ripped open the present, to find that it was a lava lamp. They smiled at Toriel and Sans.

_Thank you so much!_ They signed as they went to hug them.

"Let's go and grab Frisk's present." Chara told Alice, who nodded as the two ran upstairs.

"Where is it?" Alice asked.

"It's where Alex is." Chara explained.

"The closet?"

"Yep." They chuckled at the joke.

Alice went to the closet and pulled out the bag with the art supplies. "You didn't w-wrap them?"  
"Didn't get a chance to." Chara shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"True." Alice replied as the two went back downstairs holding the bag.

"Here's your present, Frisk!" Chara smiled, putting down the bag. Frisk opened it to find the drawing supplies.

_Thank you!_ Frisk grabbed the both of them and pulled them into a very tight hug.

"You're welcome." Chara smiled, hugging them back.

"You're welcome."

* * *

 

Chara sighed, laying down in bed. Everyone else in the house was asleep, and they were just about to drift off…

They really were happy to have Frisk back. Even if they didn't really show it. They were just happy that they were safe, and that they were happy and unharmed.

And that their kidnapper had been their own, biological mother.

_**But wait...what about the other kids?** _

And that was when they made one of the most terrifying realizations. Chara sat up in horror as they thought it. If the other four children hadn't been taken by Liliane…

"There's someone else." Chara whispered.

"Someone else is kidnapping people."


	55. Mila

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara, Frisk, and Alice discuss briefly the kidnappings, and then are interrupted by a scream...

Chapter 55

 

Chara sat, thinking hard as they kicked their short legs that didn’t quite touch the floor out and back, hearing the soft thump as they hit the sofa.

**_Who could have kidnapped the others?_ ** They racked their brain, red eyes clouded with confusion. They shook out their short, curly, brown hair and put their hand on their head as they lost themselves in thought.

**_It couldn’t have been Paul. He’s in prison. Could it have been…_ **

They shuddered.

**_No. She’s been dead or in prison since before I died. It couldn’t have been_ ** **her** **_._ ** Frisk came by and sat down next to them, their long legs easily reaching the ground.

_ What’s wrong? _ They asked, their reddish brown eyes showing worry. Chara sighed.

“I’m wondering about the other kidnappings.” Chara explained. “If your mom didn’t kidnap them, then who did?” Frisk frowned.

_ Well…. _ Frisk ran their hands through their long, straight hair. It was a bit darker than Chara’s own hair, and Chara suddenly found themselves slightly jealous.

**_I miss having long hair._ ** They realized.

_ I have no clue. _ Frisk frowned.  _ Can’t think of anyone who can. _

“Well, I’m sure it’s  _ got _ to be something.” Chara insisted.

**_It can’t just be some pedo, could it?_ ** Their mind drifted to the old man in Alice’s old neighborhood.

**_I’m gonna have to ask Liliane to investigate him…I mean, we are still on good terms with her._ **

They sighed and laid their head on Frisk. Then, Alice walked in.

“Dogpile!” She yelled as she jumped on top of the two, laughing.

“Hey!” Chara yelped as Alice landed directly on them, and her side smacked Chara’s face. Chara got up and pushed her off. “Revenge!” Chara jumped on top of Alice, who squealed. Frisk joined in, and the three were soon play fighting on the floor. It wasn’t until a sudden scream from other other room interupted them that they stopped.

“That was mom.” Chara realized, paling. They got up and ran to the kitchen, seeing Toriel kneeling on the ground, her paw on her chest. The goat looked up, and Chara saw a look of extreme pain on her face.

“T-t-the baby...She’s coming!” Toriel yelped.

“What?” Chara gasped.

**_But the baby’s not due for another month!_ **

“Call Alphys.” Toriel ordered, panting and wincing in pain.

“Yes ma’am!” Chara pulled out their and Frisk’s phone, and dialed the lizard.

“H-hello?” Alphys picked up.

“Alphys, we need you ASAP.” Chara said. “The baby’s coming.” A pause.

“What? S-she’s not due for a month!” Alphys gasped. “I-I’m coming right over.” The phone hung up. Chara ran to Toriel’s side.

“Mom, where’s Sans?” They asked.

“He...he’s at Grillby’s…” Toriel gasped.

“Mom, sit down.” Chara ordered. Toriel sighed and sat down at the table, not removing her paw from her chest. The doorbell rang.

“Alice, go get it! It’s Alphys.” The girl nodded and ran to get the doorbell. When she let the golden lizard in, she ran straight to Toriel, holding up the same Soul screen that she had used on Chara. Alice stood next to Frisk near the door to the kitchen, staring in awe at her idol.

“A-alright, h-how long has she been in pain?” Alphys asked.

“About 20 minutes.” Chara said.

“Okay, let’s get this set up.” Alphys set up the soul screen.

* * *

 

_ Eyes opened. The being realized it was his time. He knew that they were both in danger. He struggled out of his confines of space and time, knowng that every second counted. _

_ If he lost his second chance for forgiveness… _

* * *

 

“Okay, let’s see…” Alphys pressed a few other buttons, as Alice spoke up.

“H-how does that work?” Alice asked.

“There a different settings for regular m-monsters, boss monsters, and humans, as well as if they have a child or not.” Alphys explained. “For Toriel, I would p-press that she’s a boss monster with child.” She pressed said buttons, and Toriel’s Soul popped up on the screen, with a smaller Soul inside of it. Chara put their hands to their mouth in shock as they realized that Toriel’s Soul was starting to crack. 

“Is that bad?” Alphys hesitated before reluctantly adding,

“Very. The baby’s a month early. It’s very unlikely that she’ll survive being created. And with the way Toriel’s Soul is breaking like that, there’s a good chance that it’ll kill her too.”

“What!?” Alice gasped. “How d-does that work!?” She demanded.

“Monsters are made up of magic. Baby monsters take up the m-magic of their parent to create their bodies. Sometimes, it takes too much magic to create its body. If the p-parent doesn’t have enough magic, then the baby will be u-unable to create their body, but still take the parent’s magic, and due to that, the parent will be unable to exist without magic, and simply turn to dust.” Alphys explained. “That’s where monster’s magic comes from. it’s more likely to happen if it’s interspecies, like, say, a bunny and a dog, or a s-skeleton and a boss monster.” She looked back at Toriel at that last part.

“So the baby’s taking up t-too much of Toriel’s magic?” Alice asked.

“Basically.” Alphys said. “The only w-way to keep it from happening is to force a late-term abortion. But t-the only person who knows how to do that…” Alphys let that sentence drift off. “F-forget I said that.” Alphys muttered.

**_What’s that about?_ **

“Basically, there’s no one who can do it.” Alphys sighed.

“So there’s nothing we can do?” Chara breathed, horrified.

“Nothing at all.” Alphys confirmed, shaking her head sadly.

“Nothing at all.”

* * *

 

_ The being pulled and pulled as hard as he could to get out of this void. He struggled, forcing his way up, pulling himself up as he felt himself slowly falling apart. _

**_I have to stay together...for them...for him...for my son._** _He told himself, pulling himself together._

_ The truth was, he simply couldn’t exist outside of this area...the Core, he recalled it being called. Jumping had been an act of cowardness, he had realized over the years. He didn’t even know if he would be forgiven, or even remembered. _

_ He just hoped that Sans would be greatful. _

* * *

 

“Tori!” Sans teleported in, pain in his eyes.

“Get Flowey.” Chara told Frisk, who nodded and ran upstairs. They turned back to Sans and Toriel.

“S-s-sans…” Toriel panted, wincing in pain.

“Is there anything we can do?” Sans asked Alphys, not taking his eyes off of his wife. Frisk came back in with Flowey, who they put on the counter. Flowey laid his petals back and collasped on himself, as though he were depressed.

“Nothing.” Alphys frowned. “ _ He’s _ gone. No one else knows how to get rid of an unborn monster.” Sans looked off in shock.

“No…” Sans said. “T-this c-c-can’t be….!” Bright blue tears formed at his eye sockets. He buried his head in Toriel’s side, muffling his sobs as Chara, too, felt hot, salty tears forming at their eyes. They started to hold it back, felling the tears pool up in their eyes and their gut wrench in complete and utter sorrow as they held their stomach, trying their hardest to be strong for everyone.

They felt the same sadness coming from Frisk, who had fallen to the ground, curled up against the wall with their face to their knees, their eyes squeezed shut and their glasses on top of their head to keep from getting dirty. Alphys wiped her face on her sleeve as Chara saw Alice leave the room. They swore that they heard her crying from the other room. Chara blinked back their tears and wiped their face on their sleeve, as they took one last look at the Soul screen.

Toriel’s Soul was almost completely shattered.

* * *

 

_ He pulled himself out of the Core, and hurried up, flying towards the surface. He knew he didn’t have much time. _

_ Small memories were coming back. His family. His wife. Sans and Papyrus. The King and Queen. Why he jumped. His name. _

**_Gaster_ ** _. The word echoed through his head as he went to the house. He knew where to go as he possessed Toriel, infusing his own magic into the child. And he made it just in time. _

**_If I had been even a second longer...Sans..._ **

* * *

 

As Toriel’s Soul reached the very bottom, just as it was about to shatter, it stopped. Chara looked up, seeing the Soul suddenly start to repair itself.

“Alphys.” Chara said, their voice hoarse. She didn’t hear them. “Alphys.” They repeated, louder. She looked up, wiping her tears.

“Look.” Chara said, pointing at the screen, which was miraculously showing Toriel’s Soul being patched up.

“What?” Alphys gasped. “H-how is this happening?” Frisk and Flowey looked up at that, and Alice looked back into the room.

“It’s fixing itself.” Alphys said.Sans looked up at that.

Suddenly, they saw Toriel’s Soul, in real life, appear out of her body. A smaller, bright Soul dissolved out of it. They watched as the small, lean body formed in a glowing form around the Soul, which phased through several different colors, stopping at blue before fading back to white. Suddenly, all at once, the glowing stopped, and a small, tiny goat was in Toriel’s arms.

“I..what happened?” Chara asked. Alice squealed.

“She’s so cuuuuuuuuttte!” Alice whispered excitedly. “Have you decided on a name yet?”

“Mila.” Sans said, suddenly. Toriel nodded weakly, agreeing. “Mila it is.”

“Hi t-there, Mila.” Alice cooed at the baby goat.

“It looks like she’s asleep.” Sans commented, blinking. Chara could have sworn he was deep in thought.

“Alphys, can I talk to ya real quick?” The two left the room. Chara sighed, looking at their baby sister.

**_Alice’s right. She is really cute!_ **

* * *

 

“Alright, what happened?” Sans asked.

“I don’t know.” Alphys sighed. “Obviously, we were a-all expecting the worst to happen. But it didn’t.”

“I think we both know who helped us to have Toriel and the baby.” Sans said. Alphys looked away.

“He j-jumped long ago, Sans.” Alphys reminded him. “Besides, remember everything he’s done?”

“I know.” Sans sighed. “But still, he’s the only one who could have helped us.”

“But your father was evil!” Alphys burst out quietly. “You know him. H-he was a selfish bastard.”

“I know.” Sans looked off. “But still, there’s some part of me that can’t help but wonder.”

“And I u-understand that.” Alphys nodded. “But you have to remember. His experiments were nothing short of torture on innocent monsters.” 

“And they were. I’m not denying that.” Sans shook his head. “This doesn’t redeem him. But it does show a side of him that I never saw growing up.”

“...Well, I-I’ve got to get home. Congrats on your daughter.” Alphys said, walking back to get her Soul screen.

“Thank you.” Sans followed her. “I’ll see you later.”

“Goodbye, everyone!” Alphys waved goodbye to the family, all six of them with the addition of Mila.

**_Gaster, I don’t know if you’re behind this. And don’t get me wrong, you were a terrible person before you fell. But...if you were behind this, thank you. Thank you so much._ **


	56. Musical Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suessical the Musical, revenge, and Sans starts to worry about Mila...

Chapter 55

 

**Oh, the thinks you can think**

**Think and wonder and dream**

**Far and wide as you dare...**

**When your thinks have run dry**

**In the blink of an eye**

**There's another world there.**

**If you open your mind**

**Oh, the thinks you will find**

**Lining up to get loose**

 

**Oh, the thinks you can think**

The boys sang alone.

**Oh, the thinks you can think**

 

Everyone rejoined.

**Oh, the thinks you can think**

 

The girls sang alone.

**Oh, the thinks you can think**

 

Everyone rejoined.

**Oh the thinks you can think**

**When you think about Seuss!**

**When you think about Seuss!**

**When you think about Seuss!**

 

**Seu-u-u-u-u Seu... Seu...**

**Seu... Seu... Seuss! Seuss! Seuss!**

**Seu-u-u-uss Seuss! Seuss! Seuss!**

 

**Seu-u-u-u-u Seu... Seu... Seuss! Seuss!**

**Seu... Seu... Seuss! Seuss!**

**Seu-u-u-uss Seuss! Seuss! Seuss!**

 

**Seu ...Seu ...**

**Seu-u-u-u-u Seuss! Seuss! Seuss!**

**Seu ... Seu ... Seuss! Seuss! Seuss!**

 

All of the characters danced off, as Chara was the last one to leave. They left their hat on the ground in front of Alex, who dived and slid for it.

 

**Seuss!**

 

Alex took Chara’s hat and put it on his head, as the theatre went dark.

Then, in groups the kids all came out, bowing.

“Playing your host, the Cat in the Hat, Chara Dreemurr!” The voice announced as Chara came out, getting a large amount of applause.

“And finally, playing as Jojo, Alexander Smith!” He came out smiling as the whole audience applauded, several people standing up. A handful of people on tech came out and bowed. Then, the entire cast grabbed hands and bowed. The tech kids- including Alice- left the stage, but Sans noticed that Frisk stayed next to Chara.

**_It’s been a couple of weeks since Mila was born. Almost a month, actually._ **

Sans clapped, applauding as all of the kids as they came out and bowed after their performance of Suessical. Linda came out, a condensending smirk on her face as the kids all sat down, Chara near Frisk. Sans could tell that they were signing something to each other, but couldn’t quite make out what it was. Something about a plan?

“Good evening everyone.” Linda said, standing in her obviously expensive shoes and dress that shone like diamonds under the light.

**_Considering her tastes, the bitch probably had it made out of diamonds…_ **

“I want to thank each and every one of you for coming to see our little performers tonight.” Linda said. “Each and every one of them was chosen carefully for their part, and I must say that they did a wonderful job tonight.” Sans rolled his eyes and looked to Toriel, who was holding a sleeping Mila in her arms. Toriel frowned and the two looked back to the stage. Sans could still see the two kids signing to each other onstage.

“Now, we have a couple of special thanks. Firstly, we must have some thanks to our guest choreographers…” Sans was paying more attention to his two kids onstage, who were signing very quickly. Sans managed to tell what they were signing.

_When do we signal her?_

_Soon. Once Linda gets to thanking tech._

**_Wonder what that’s about._ ** Sans turned his attention back as some of tech came onstage and gave the choreographers flowers.

“And next, we must thank our tech crew.” Linda smiled, nodding at tech. “For their hard work and effort in putting on the show.”

 _Now!_ Chara signed to Frisk, who signed something to someone off stage. All of a sudden, from what seemed to be the side of the stage, a bucket of water was thrown at Linda, drenching her and ruining her dress. The whole theatre was silent.

And then, just as suddenly as the water, the whole theatre started laughing. At the sight of Linda, drenched in water, mascara running down her cheeks.

“Who...who did this?!” Linda cried out. “My dress is ruined!” Suddenly, Frisk stood up, giggling.

“Geeeettt dunked on, Linda!” They yelled at the top of their lungs, laughing as they and Chara ran off the stage and outside. Sans had to admit. He was proud of that kid.

“We should probably check on our crazy kids.” Sans joked, getting up.

“Yes, we should.” Toriel frowned. They left the theatre and found the three of their children- Alice, Chara, and Frisk- high-fiving in the back parking lot.

“Kids!” Toriel said.

“Oh, hey mom.” Chara smiled. “What did you guys think?”

“The show was amazing.” Toriel said. “But your prank after was rude.”

“Nah, I’d say it was well worth it to Linda.” Sans shrugged, taking Mila from Toriel. Mila sat in his arms, blinking curiously at her siblings.

 **_She must have woken up when the prank happened._ ** Sans figured. Mila was a bit skeletal-like for a goat monster, and seemed to have Sans’ eyes, which were pitch black entirely expect for the pupils, which were brown in one eye like Toriel, and blue in the left eye, like Sans when he was angry.

“Moom, it was just revenge!” Chara retorted, smiling. “Linda’s done much worse to all three of us.”

“That’s true.” Toriel sighed, crossing her arms. Mila whimpered, reaching out to Chara, surprisingly. Sans hesitated before reluctantly handing her to Chara. Chara blinked and took Mila, who smiled happily.

_**Don't you dare hurt her.** _

“That’s surprising.” Sans chuckled, shoving away the unexpected thought.

“I guess she likes me.” Chara shrugged, blinking their eyes.

“No, that she wanted to be near you in all that stage makeup.” Sans joked, pointing at Chara’s overly made-up face. Chara shrugged, moving Mila to their other shoulder.

“True.” Chara took their left hand and rubbed at what must have been a pound and a half of makeup. “Linda insisted on doing everyone’s makeup.”

“Of course she did.” Toriel sighed. “But anyways, back to the point. You can’t just embarress someone like that.”

“But it’s Linda.” Chara retorted.

“I don’t care who it was, you don’t embarress them in front of an audience.” Toriel scolded. “You get revenge in front of their friends, but not an audience of strangers. You three are all grounded for two weeks.”

“Two weeks!?” Chara retorted as Alice and Frisk both went “Aww…”

“Yeah, Tori, two weeks is a bit excessive.” Sans said. “13 days, that’s fine. but two weeks? Too much.” Toriel shook her head.

“I’d rather not give you an odd number of days, so I’ll just give you a week grounded, and another week after that of doing chores around the house.” Toriel said. “Is that better?”

“Yes, mom.” Chara and Alice both said, as Frisk nodded.

“Alright. Let us go home now, my children.” Toriel grabbed Chara’s hand, picked up Frisk, and pulled Alice next to her as they all walked to the car, Mila tilting her head at the new surroundings. As he went into the car and strapped her into her seat, Sans swore he could hear her babble something.

“Ah ba ba ga wa.” Mila babbled.

“Tori.” Sans said, suddenly smiling. “She’s babbling.”

“She is?” Toriel looked into the seat, smiling. “Our little girl is growing up.”

“Yeah.” Sans said, forgetting his worries about her for the moment, and fully seeing her as his daughter and not the recreation of Gaster.

“She is.”

* * *

 

Sans sat, watching Mila as she played with her blocks.

 **_She’s so cute._ ** Sans thought to himself, taking a gulp of ketchup. Suddenly, the kid dropped a block and it tumbled away from her. Sans saw her frown for a second.

“Alright, Mila, let me get tha-” Sans stopped in the middle of getting up as he saw Mila use bright green magic, brighter than he had seen in a long time, to move the block towards herself.

Sans stared at her in shock, but she just giggled and looked up at her dad.

“You’re only a month old. How did you use magic already?” Sans asked out loud, not expecting her to answer. She giggled and moved her hands in a way that Sans recognised.

 _Magic._ She signed. Sans went over and picked her up, staring into her brownish red eyes, just like his wife’s. Sighing, Sans said out loud,

“We need to go to Alphys’.”


	57. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans finds out what's wrong with Mila.

Chapter 56

 

“S-sans? What brings you here at this hour?” Alphys squeaked, opening the door to a worried looking Sans and baby Mila.

“I need to talk to you. About her.” Sans said.

“Alright, come in. Do I need to look at her?” Alphys asked. “If not, Undyne, yo-your brother, and Mettaton are watching anime.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Sans shook his head as he walked in.

“HELLO, DEAR BROTHER.” Papyrus greeted him as he brought Mila into the living room.

“Heya, paps.” Sans smiled back. “Do you mind watching Mila for me while I talk to Alphys?”

“IS THIS YOUR DAUGHTER, AND MY NEICE? SHE’S SO CUTE!” Papyrus smiled, taking the baby goat from Sans. “METTATON! LOOK AT HER!”

“Yes, she is very cute, Sans.” Mettaton smiled as well.

“Thank you.” Sans followed Alphys to the kitchen.

* * *

Mila watched as her dad walked off. She pouted a bit, crossing her arms.

“AWW, SHE’S SO CUTE!” Papyrus smiled.

“Yeah, she is.” Undyne chuckled. Mettaton picked up the baby skelegoat.

“She’s so tiny.” Mila sensed something off in his voice.

“What are you thinking about, Mettaton?” Undyne asked.

“It feels like there’s something off about her. I don’t know if it’s just me or not, though.” Mettaton frowned.

“LET ME SEE HER.” Papyrus took his niece from his husband. “NOPE, I DON’T SENSE ANYTHING. DON’T WORRY, DEAR MILA, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, IS YOUR UNCLE.” Mila laughed a bit at that.

* * *

 

“Look, I think what happened when she was born with Gaster is having a huge effect on her.”

“How, e-exactly?” Alphys asked.

“Mila started using magic today. She’s only a month old.” Sans explained. “Not to mention, it was bright green magic. The brightest green I’ve seen since Gaster was alive.”

“That’s impossible. Only a select species can learn green magic. It’s the hardest.” Alphys retorted. “Besides, monsters don’t start using magic until they’re 6 or 7, or 4 or 5 for a boss monster.”

“Yes, I know. It’s easier to hurt someone than to heal them, that’s why green is the hardest to learn.” Sans said. “But I swear, she used it.”

“Alright, maybe she just has an a-aptitude for magic. Toriel is the strongest b-boss monster alive, and you’re the strongest regular monster.” Alphys sternly looked at Sans. 

“True.” Sans said. “Although, you said yourself, 1 month old is entirely too young to be able to do magic.” Alphys paused.

“...That’s true.” She admitted.

* * *

“NOW, MILA, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO FIND YOUR SECRET WEAPON.”

“Darling, she’s only a month old. That’s entirely too young to use magic.” Mettaton said.

“WELL, SHE NEEDS TO KNOW HOW TO FIND IT, EVEN IF SHE CAN’T SUMMON IT.” Papyrus pointed out. Suddenly, Mila started struggling to get out of his hands.

“OH? YOU WANT TO BE PUT DOWN?” Papyrus did so. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO FIND YOUR WEAPON. EVEN...IF IT WON’T BE FOR A BIT.” He put his hand on his chest and smiled proudly. To his surprise, Mila raised her hands and a ball of light appeared in front of her.

“THAT...I DON’T KNOW IF THAT’S A GOOD THING? I’VE NEVER SEEN…”

* * *

 

“Not to mention, she started signing.” Sans explained. “No one taught her that.”

“Maybe she just picked it up from Frisk? You can’t just think that everything’s because of Gas-” Alphys was interrupted by a scream of surprise from the living room. Sans ran back in, and saw that Mila had somehow managed to summon a Gaster Blaster with bright green eyes, unlike Sans’, which had blue eyes. He ran and picked her up, which made the blaster disappear.

“What happened?” Sans asked a startled Papyrus.

“I TOLD HER THAT SHE WOULD FIND HER SECRET WEAPON IN A BIT...I DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD BE NOW.” Papyrus explained. Sans looked at Alphys with a look that said, ‘I told you so’. She sighed.

“Alright, I’ll check her out.” Alphys relented. “U-Undyne, can you get the Soul screen?”

“Sure, Alphys.” Undyne smiled, getting up to grab it, although Sans noticed that she kept looking at Mila. Even Mettaton seemed to be startled.

“There’s something off about her. I can sense it.” Mettaton commented.

“We’ll see it if it’s there.” Sans said as Undyne brought in the screen.

“Alright, let’s see…” Alphys took Mila from Sans and put her behind the screen, and put in the right buttons. As soon as it popped up, Sans knew. 

He had been right.

“That’s what was off about her.” Mettaton commented. “She has two Souls.”

“That she does.” Sans nodded. “She was a month early, we should have known there was something odd about her birth.” Mettaton nodded and walked off.

“That’s probably Gaster.” Sans whispered to Alphys, who nodded.

“It seems like you were right.” Alphys whispered back. “She has her own Soul, the s-smaller one, and then Gaster’s. That must be w-w-what’s influencing her magic and her signing and development. While here’s nothing I can do about it, u-unfortunately, I c-can try to help you to find out how it’ll affect her development.”

“Yes, please. I just wanted to find out what was going on, but...” Sans shook his head. “This is a lot to take in. I didn’t expect this.”

“Neither of u-us did,” Alphys sighed.

“Well, thank you anyways. See ya, everyone.” Sans smiled.

“GOODBYE, MY DEAR BROTHER.”

“Bye, Sans!”

“Goodbye, darling.”

As he picked up Mila, thanked Alphys again and headed home, one lingering thought was left at the back of his mind.

**_What does this mean for Mila?_ **

**_Will she follow in Gaster’s footsteps?_ **

* * *

 

“So, who to pick next?” Chara asked, looking around as they climbed back through the window.

The three kids plus Flowey had decided to play a kid-friendly game of Truth or Dare- where instead of taking a shot of alcohol, they took a shot of soda. So far, Chara had admitted to a game with Alex on getting revenge on Linda (Alex was winning), Alice had been dared to take one of Sans’ ketchup bottles, which was now sitting next to Flowey, Frisk had taken a shot of soda in leiu of answering a question of how many times they Reset, Flowey had answered a question from Frisk about how many times he had Reset (millions) and Flowey, in turn, had dared Chara to walk to Linda’s house and ding dong ditch her without teleporting, which they had done with Frisk coming along to make sure they actually did it.

“Alright, how about you, Frisk?” Chara asked. “Truth or Dare?”

_ Truth. _ Frisk signed.

“Okay.” Chara nodded. “You told me a while back that you had a crush. Who was it on?” Frisk hesitated, looking at the soda bottle. Chara was sure that they were going to take a shot, when instead, they signed an unexpected name. Chara blinked, pausing for a second.

“You had a crush on Alex!?” Chara demanded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Asks are open again on AsktheUndertaleKiddos! And my tablet's working again, so there'll be pictures now!  
> Also, I got cleared from my concussion to skate again! I'm really excited :D  
> See you guys next week!
> 
> ~Skater


	58. Suspicion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans starts to suspect that Chara is up to something, and he starts to recall something he hasn't recalled for months...

Chapter 57

 

Frisk nodded. They were about to add something, but Chara interupted them.

“Well, we gotta set you two up as soon as possible!” Chara stood up. “I mean, you two get along and are nice to each other!”

_ I barely know her, Chara. _ Frisk pointed out, frowning.

“All the better to go out on a date to get to know each other.” Chara retorted. Frisk looked down and sighed.

“Good idea, how about first, we finish this game  _ before _ Sans gets home.” Flowey pointed out.

“Finish what before I get home?” Sans asked, walking in. He put down Mila, who crawled towards Chara. They picked her up and pet her head. Sans summoned her back to him.“And why is there one of my ketchup bottles and soda in here?”

“Flowey d-did it,” Alice said immediately.

“No I didn’t!” Flowey snapped back, glaring at Alice.

“We were playing truth or dare.” Chara explained.

“None of these dares included leaving the house, right? Especially not while Tori is asleep and I’m not home? And you’re all still grounded?” Sans raised an eyebrow. Chara gulped.

“O-of course not!” They smiled cheekily, moving their hand to their heart shaped locket. Sans stared at them, then looked past them to the window, which they had accidentally left open.

“...Right.” He said. Mila started to sign  _ I’m tired _ multiple times.

“Mila can sign now?” Chara asked, blinking.

“Yep.” Sans sighed. “It’s a long story. I’m going to put her to bed. For the love of Asgore, please put my ketchup away before you guys finish.” He walked off as the others looked at Chara.

“W-why’d you lie?” Alice whispered

“I didn’t want him to know I went out!” Chara snapped back quietly. “I didn’t want to break his trust.”

“Well, it looks like you did.” Flowey shot out a stem to close the window. 

“Lying a-always has consequences, Chara!” Alice warned. “He’s not going to be able to trust you much in the future.”

“Right.” Chara shook their head. “Let’s just finish this game.”

* * *

Chara teleported outside Alex’s house and waited by the apple tree, which had long since gone bare from the cold of winter. They texted her, telling her to come outside.While they waited, they looked around. The Christmas decorations that Linda had not yet taken down were very well done, obviously by someone who had an artist’s eye.

**_I don’t want to say Linda did it, but she has to have some talent outside of being a horrible person, right…?_ **

They were starting to feel bad. Sneaking out again, especially since they were still grounded for revenge on Linda.

**_Does Sans really not trust me? I mean, I did take the blame for killing everyone before, but that wasn’t me! I thought we-_ **

Then, they realized.

**_Sans doesn’t know that I’m not the one who controlled Frisk._ **

“Hey, Chara!” They were taken away from their thoughts by Alex, in a coat, pants, and some boots.

“Hey, Alex!” The two hugged. “How are you?”

“I’m good. Today’s not a too terribly dysphoric day.” Alex moved her hair, or what existed of it, it still being short, as much over her shoulder as she could.

“That’s good.” Chara said. “Quick question, who decorated?”

“Oh, that was Mom. She really has a talent for decoration, doesn’t she?” Alex said, looking up at her house.

“She does.” Chara nodded, agreeing.

**_At least she’s good at something._ **

“Say, what did you ask me to come out here in the freezing cold of January for?” Alex asked.

“Oh! I had a quick question. What do you think of Frisk?” Chara asked. Alex blinked, surprised.

“Um, well...they’re pretty nice.” Alex said. “I don’t know them that well, like I do you and Alice.”

“Would you like to get to know them? I can dress you up as more feminine.” Chara offered. “Er, Alice and I can.” Alex hesitated.

“I don’t know. I’m...a bit worried I might mess it up.” She admitted.

“I’ll be there to help. After all, I need to translate for Frisk.” Chara explained. “It’d be like a date!”

“A date..?” Alex frowned. “I’m sorry, I’ll go out if Frisk wants to, but...I’m not interested in them like that.”

“Oh.” Chara thought for a second. “Well, even if you’re not, it’ll still be fun. We can make it a group thing if you want.”

“Okay.” Alex nodded. “When would it be?”

“In probably a week. When we’re no longer grounded.” Chara said. Alex nodded.

“Okay. I’m interested.” She agreed.

**_Awesome!_ **

* * *

 

Chara teleported back into their room, taking time to make their bed and to sit on it before they realized they weren’t alone. And the clue to them realizing they weren’t alone was a small,

“Heya.” 

Chara jumped and turned around at Sans’ voice.

“Oh, h-hey, Sans.” Chara smiled nervously. “How long have you been there?”

“The last half an hour. I went to wake up you three and you were gone.” Sans put his hands in his pockets as he sat on Alice’s bed, across from Chara. “The other two didn’t know where you were. So, where were you, anyway?”

“I went to talk to Alex.” Chara said.

“Uh huh.” Sans narrowed his eyes. “And did you go to talk to Alex when you snuck out last night as well?”

“Well, um…” Chara frowned. They didn’t want to admit to ding dong ditching Linda.

“Don’t want to say, huh?” Sans shrugged, his eyes turning dark. “Alright. Whatever.”

**_He doesn’t believe me…_ **

“Welp. I’m heading downstairs.” Sans got up, leaving Chara alone in the dark room with their guilt.

Chara laid down, thinking.

**_Sans doesn’t trust me. I’ve lied to him twice. And plus everything with my past...oh my god, how have I been so stupid!_ ** They sat up and smacked their head into the pillow.

**_Sans doesn’t know what I’ve been through. He doesn’t know why I’m so secretive. I had to before. I had to to live!_ **

Chara sighed.  **_I probably just fucked everything up. His trust in me was fragile to begin with, and I just shattered it into pieces._ **

They thought about his actions in the past. Taking them to the PTA meeting. Enrolling them in Frisk’s school. Not letting them go look to see if someone had broken into the house during Paul’s trial. Even just the previous day, taking Mila away from them.

**_He didn’t trust me much. Not at all. And it’s all my fault._ **

* * *

 

_ Sans looked around. A dark lab surrounded him. Someone grabbed his hand as he heard a feminine voice say, _

_ “He’s doing it again.” A much younger Alphys, her glasses too big for her face and her labcoat covering her hands, whispered. Sans looked down at his own small hands, also covered by the lab coat. He rolled his sleeves to his wrist. _

_ “Same monsters?” Sans whispered back, a bit surprised at his higher pitched, tounger voice. Alphys nodded. “Should we look? I know he didn’t want us to, but…” _

_ “I don’t know.” Alphys whispered. “We don’t even know what he’s doing. But those high pitched noises…” _

_ “They are rather unsettling.” Sans frowned, moving a small hand to his mouth. “What should we do?” _

_ “I…” Alphys adjusted her glasses. “I think we should check it out. In the name of science.” Sans smiled. _

_ “In the name of science it is.” He agreed. As the two got closer, they heard something else. _

_ “That sounds like bones.” Sans commented. _

_ “It does.” Alphys kept moving foward, crawling under a pipe and finding a vent. “Aha!” _

_ “What’d you find?” Sans asked, his lab coat being pulled off by the pipe. he was barely small enough to get under, Alphys was a lot tinier than him. _

_ “We can look in there here.” Alphys pulled a mini screwdriver out of nowhere and unscrewed the vent, allowing the two to crawl in. They crawled around, until they saw a blast of green. _

_ “Ah!” Alphys yelped. Sans crawled over to where it had come from, and instantly wished he hadn’t. _

_ The green magic was hands, lots of hands, putting back together and healing a poor skeleton monster that had been torn to shreds. Sans saw several other monsters, skeletons and fish monsters and lizard monsters and bunny monsters- all sorts- all cowering. They were all injured in some form, and they all had plates on their cages that he could barely make out. _

_ “There, there.” The two were silenced as Gaster walked up to the skelton, which had been fully healed from falling apart. It whimpered, looking up at him as it was about to cry. _

_ “You’re of no more use to me.” Gaster decided, summoning a paper and pen out of nowhere. He wrote some things down, and then it went away. He used blue magic to completely freeze the skeleton and put him in one of the various cages. _

_ “Next.” Gaster spoke and signed at the same time, a trademark that Sans had always seen him do- he had to, it was easy for him with so many hands, and he had to do something with them- as he dragged a reluctant bunny out of her cage. _

_ “No! You can’t! Noooooo!” She screamed, crying, as his hands grew claws and clawed at her fur, tearing and leaving blood. He threw her into the circle, leaving her a whimpering, bloody mess. _

_ “Now,” He smirked, holding a syringe. “It’s time to test this.” He forced the bunny to face him, and she kept her mouth shut. “Open!” He snapped, forcing her jaws open as he emptied the syringe inside her mouth. Sans gasped and held his hands to his mouth as he saw the bunny choke, and start coughing.  _

_ “She can’t breathe!” Alphys gasped in horror. The bunny continued coughing, until blood started to come out of her throat. And Gaster just sat and watched, a small smile on his face, letting this bunny cough and die in front of him. _

_ In the name of science. _

_ Sans crawled backwards, hearing the bunny cough, and then the sound of vomiting. A pool of red spew out of the poor bunny’s mouth, covering the floor in a 5 foot radius. As she collasped, he hurried back out of the vent, as fast as he could, but the sound of vomit and screaming was stuck in his head forever. _

* * *

Sans woke up from his nightmare, gasping. He panted, thinking about it.

**_I haven’t had a nightmare since before Chara came...What is going on? Is it just the whole thing with Mila?_ **

And then he realized. Exactly what was going on.

**_Am I scared of my own daughter? Am I scared of what she might become?_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooo boy, we're getting to the fun part of the story =)
> 
> Feel free to ask me questions!
> 
> See you next week!
> 
> ~Skater


	59. Shock Value

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some shocking news comes to light, and Sans starts to wonder if there's more to Chara then he thought...

Chapter 58

 

_ “And in other news, another amber alert has been let out in the case of Elliot Matte, a 8 year old boy. He was dropped off at his elementary school, but never made it to class. His kidnapping is linked to the kidnappings of  _ _ Andrew Johnson, Laila Gemayd, Irene Heracross, and Carrie Oldern, and like the other four, he was kidnapped in the area around Los Angeles, California. Thankfully, the human/monster Ambassador, Frisk Dreemurr, who was also kidnapped in the area around L.A, California has long been found unharmed, and their case has officially been ruled as unrelated to these other kidnappings. If you have any clues as to the location of these children, please call your local police. Thank you.”  _ Sans tuned out the T.V. It was 6 in the morning, and he was still trying to figure out why Chara kept lying to him.

“Why would they lie? They don’t have anything to hide.” Sans muttered to himself.

... **_Or do they?_ **

The thought hadn’t occured to him before. If Chara was sneaking around, it was pretty clear that they had to be hiding something.

**_The question is, what could they be hiding?_ **

Suddenly, the TV cut back to the news.

_ “We have a major news report. One of the children who was kidnapped has been found dead. The body was dumped in a river a few miles north of where they were kidnapped. Officials believe that the killer dumped them in a river to get rid of all evidence. We are currently on standby for more information. We do not know which child it was yet, the body is too mutilated to tell, or to even show on this report. We are waiting on forensics to tell us.” _ In the background, one could see police officers that were obviously horrified, as someone pulled out a blurred out, red thing from the river. Sans could see stains of blood float out on the river. He was stunned.

“They’re killing people now?” He whispered, horrified. “Whoever kidnapped those kids…”

“Sans?” He looked to see Toriel, standing behind him with a confused look on her face. “What’s going on?”

“Tori, they found one of the missing children.” Sans choked out. 

“Which one?” Tori asked, smiling.

“They can’t tell.” Sans said. He face turned into one of confusion. “They found them too mutilated to tell, and dumped in a river.” 

“Holy shit.” Toriel whispered, putting her paw to her face.

**_It’s shit like this that’s why I don’t want Frisk or Alice to go out. As for Chara...I’m a bit done with them sneaking out so much._ ** “Is Chara in their room?”

“As far as I know, they are.” Toriel said, putting the baby monitor on the table. It was quiet, but Sans could hear Mila breathing through it.

“I hope so. They’ve been sneaking out.” Sans explained. “I told them not to, with all the kidnappings and everything…”

“Tch.” Toriel sighed. “Chara’s always been very secretive. They used sneak out a lot when they were still alive as well. But I thought they would have more  _ sense!  _ There have been kidnappings, and now murder!”

“Me too.” Sans sighed. “I’m a bit worried that they’re up to something stupid. I...I don’t know.” Sans frowned. He looked back at the TV. Toriel thought for a second, and then paled.

“You...you do not think that they had something to do with...that, do you?” Toriel asked.

“I have no proof. All I know is that they wanted to kill all humans before, so why not now, that they’re alive and can do so. They can teleport, after all. There’d be no proof that they were there.” Sans pointed out. Toriel got up.

“I’m not hearing this. I had enough difficulty coming to terms with my ex-husband being a murderer. I’m not repeating this with my child.” Toriel retorted.

“What are you talking about?” Sans asked. “Asgore didn’t kill anyone.”

“Then who killed the children?” Toriel demanded.

“Other monsters. Trust me, I was watching. This was before I made that promise to you.” Sans explained. “They died to either natural disasters or other monsters taking them down. Asgore didn’t kill anyone himself.”

“But he gave out the order to kill them.” Toriel sighed. “It’s just as bad.” Sans sighed.

**_Can’t argue with that._ **

“Alright.” Sans relented, dropping the subject. But the thought was still in the back of his mind.

**_I don’t want to believe it myself...but what if Chara really is involved? I know they have violent tendencies, they did fight and almost kill Jimmy. But where I found that out from...I’m not sure if it’s true._ ** Sans sighed.

**_I don’t have any proof either way, so I’ll try to figure this out later._ ** He got up. “Tori, do you want some coffee?”

“Sure.” Toriel smiled, as they both heard movement from the baby monitor. “I’m gonna go get Mila.”

“Alright.” Sans smiled as the two both got up, him heading towards the pantry, Toriel heading upstairs. Leaving Sans to his thoughts.

Which meant leaving him to recall his nightmare, because he was done thinking about Chara for the time being.

**_I still remember that...Gaster used to experiment on monsters. We, Alphys and I knew that, but we never thought it was_ ** **that** **_bad._ ** Sans pulled out the coffee and turned on the machine.  **_I saw that liquid he used, a bright red one. He told us to never touch it, it was untested and therefore dangerous. Honestly, I think after that incident, I didn’t want anything to do with science. But Alphys kept asking me to go back. We kept going back, and pretending that nothing was wrong. We kept to our own childish experiments, until...I burst out and yelled at Dad. Said that I hated science, I hated anything to hurt other monsters. I...I said I hated him, for what he did to those monsters. He got angry, and decided to give the both of us two tests that he hadn’t used yet. The one he gave me gave me more advanced magic, but reduced my HP and DF to one, no matter what my Hope Points were, and the one he gave Alphys...didn’t end well. It caused her to have horrific panic attacks, and gave her permanent anxiety and depression, but she became one of the smartest monsters._ ** Sans realized the machine was waiting patiently for him to insert the coffee, which he did.

As it made the coffee, he returned to his thoughts. 

**_Eventually, one of the monsters managed to break out everyone and they worked together to push him into the core. Now, only Alphys and I remember him. We tried to bring him back. Neither of us thought that a monster could have a capacity for evil. We thought that he was trying to help them, and...how stupid we were._ **

The machine finished pouring out coffee as Sans pulled away the cup and put the other one under. Toriel came downstairs, holding a still-sleepy Mila, and put her into her high chair. Frisk, Alice, and Chara came down a few minutes later, Frisk holding Flowey. They put him in the middle of the table, facing Mila. Flowey watched her, and she was watching him back. The two stared at each other for a good five minutes.

“Okay…” Chara frowned.

“Hey, Alice, was Chara in their room all night?” Sans asked.

“Yeah, they were. Why didn’t yo-you just ask them?” Alice tilted her head.

“Ok, thanks.” Sans said, not answering her question. Chara frowned before sitting down.

“Can I have some coffee?” They asked.

“Sure.” Sans grabbed a cup and made more for them.

“Thank you.” They replied as he handed them the cup.

“No prob.” He sat down, and they all watched Mila and Flowey stare at each other.

Mila suddenly reached out to pet Flowey, who tensed up at her touch.

“Fla.” She babbled, suddenly using magic to pull his flower pot closer. Everyone looked at Sans and Toriel.

“How long has she been doing that?” Chara asked.

“Since last night. It’s why I went out, I went to ask Alphys for help.” He explained.

_ What did she say? _ Frisk signed.

“She said it’s unique to her, but she can’t really do anything about it.” Sans explained, as Mila started petting Flowey’s stem.

“Fla.” She babbled again.

“Yes, he’s a flower.” Toriel smiled. Mila smiled, looking around.

“Ca-a.” She pointed at Chara.

“Yes, I’m Chara.” They smiled.

“Ma. Da.” Mila looked at Sans and Toriel, and suddenly did the sign for ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’. “Ma. Da.” She signed at the same time as speaking.

“Signing and speaking?” Toriel frowned, going to pick up Mila, who whined a bit. Toriel put her back in her high chair. “Well, I will grab you some food, my child.” She got up to grab some eggs to scramble for the baby skelegoat. Sans took a sip of coffee.

**_Well, this certainly isn’t turning out to be the day I planned it to be._ **

***

Chara couldn’t focus.

It was the middle of math, and all they could do was fiddle with their…

Wait, where did their necklace go?

**_It was right around my neck yesterday!_ **

_ You okay, Chara? _ They were interupted by Frisk poking them and signing to them under the desk.

_ I’m fine. Sort of. _ Chara signed back.  _ Do you need help on your worksheet? _

_ Nah, I’m good. _ Frisk signed back nodding at their finished sheet.  _ But seriously, are you okay? _

_...Not really. _ Chara confessed.  _ I’ll tell you later. _

_Ok._ Frisk signed back, frowning. Chara tapped their fingers on the desk while Frisk drew on their worksheet.

_ So, I set up a kinda hang out or date with Alex for you. _ Chara signed. Frisk looked at them.

_ You did? _ They signed back pursing their lips.

_ Yep.  _  Chara signed back.

_ Well, I guess it’s going to just be a hang out.  _ Frisk signed.

_ What? _ Chara looked at them, confused.

_ I...I did have a crush on her. But before I knew she was a girl. _ Frisk shook their head.  _ Not anymore, though. _

_ Why didn’t you tell me? _

_ Didn’t get a chance to. _ Frisk explained. Chara sighed.

_ Ok. We can make it kind of a group hangout.  _ Chara said.  _ I’m gonna go to the bathroom. Don’t worry, I’m not mad.  _ They added before Frisk could ask.  _ I just need to go to the bathroom. _

_ Ok. _ Frisk signed back as they got up. Chara sighed and walked up to Linda.

“Miss Smith, can I go to the bathroom? I finished my worksheet.” Chara asked.

“Turn it in, then go ahead.” Linda said, without looking up. She was obviously bored and looking at her phone.

“Ok, thank you.” Chara said as they turned it in, grabbed the pass, and left. Chara sighed and went into the girl’s bathroom.

**_I hate the girl’s bathroom. There’s always people in it, and there’s usually blood or some shit in the toilets._ ** Chara sighed. They had to put up with it, unfortunately. As they walked in, they were met by Alice, who had been talking to...Anna and Ashley?

“Hey, nerd.” Anna said, directing the words to Chara. “I thought you weren’t a girl?”

“You know as well as I do that there’s no gender neutral bathroom.” Chara muttered. “I just hate that class. it’s so boring.”

“Linda?” Ashley asked all of a sudden.

“Yep.” Chara nodded.

“G-glad I don’t have her.” Alice chuckled.

“You lucky bitch.” Anna joked.

“Yeah.” Alice laughed. “E-english isn’t much better.”

“Not at all.” Chara laughed.

“Something really quick, because my Mom was talking about it earlier.” Anna said, suddenly changing the atmosphere. “Did you hear about what happened to the children who were kidnapped?”

“No, what happened?” Chara frowned.

“Apparently one of the kids was found. They were horribly mutilated, apparently.” Anna explained. Alice looked horrified.

“No, I-I didn’t hear about that!” She replied. “Which one was it?”

“They couldn’t even tell. They have to wait for DNA samples to come back.” Anna answered her.

“That’s such a horrible tragedy.” Ashley shook her head. “Can you believe people?”

“No.” Chara shook their head, lost in thought. “Not at all.”


	60. Y'all wanted a twist, eh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans goes to ask Liliane if he can hep investigate.

Chapter 59

 

Sans waited outside of Liliane’s door after knocking on it.

He wanted to know more about the case. Frisk had technically been part of the case, and Liliane was in charge, after all, so she should know a lot about it. To his surprise, Chad opened the door.

“Oh, hey Sans.” Chad seemed surprised. 

“Heya. Is Liliane here?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Chad nodded. “Shannon’s here too, we were assigned to the case due to there being children involved.”

“Fair.” Sans replied. “May I come in?”

“Yeah, sure.” Chad agreed, letting the skeleton come into the house. Sans sat down in a chair at the table as Chad sat in front of him.   
“So, what’s going on?” Sans asked. “I know that one of them died.”

“Unfortunately.” Chad sighed. He gave the file to Sans. “The girl who died was Laila. Her body was so horribly mutilated, it was impossible to tell the exact cause of death. It could have been anything, as far as we know.” Sans looked through the file.

“Wow.” He had nothing further to say.

“It’s one of the worst cases we’ve seen in a long while.” Chad said. “Who would do this to a child? And who knows what the kidnapper’s doing to the other children?”

“Who knows?” Sans looked back at the file.

**_Many cuts all around the body. Burn marks, fluid in the lungs, stab wounds. No fingerprints, surprisingly._ **

“Any data on the other children?” Sans closed the file and handed it to Chad.

“None right now. We were going to go out into the field today and see if we could find anything else.” Chad told him. “We were just waiting on Liliane and Shannon.”

“Just Liliane!” Shannon called from up the stairs, as she was coming down. “Sans? What are you doing here?”

“Just wanted to know more about the case. My kid was involved in it, after all.” He shrugged.

“Fair point.” Shannon sat down next to Chad. “Any questions?”

“None really. I just…” Sans frowned. “Why would anyone do this? This is so...no monster would ever do this to anyone. It’s unheard of for anyone to even be mean to each other. The only reason we would would be if they provoked us first.”

“Unfortunately, humans aren’t that good-willed.” Chad shook his head. “When I met Alice, she wasn’t exactly in the best situation.”

“You met Alice?” Sans raised an non-existant eyebrow. Then he remembered.

“Yeah, I met her when she was five and I was still a teenager. I...actually rescued her from some people who wanted to do terrible things to kids.” Chad confessed. “My mum couldn’t take in another kid, so she kinda just lived near our house.”

“Why didn’t you send her to an orphanage?” Sans asked.

“Alice was a really tiny kid. Almost like a little doll. If you had met her at that age, you wouldn’t have wanted her to go to an orphanage.” Chad explained. “Orphanages are terrible places.”

“Gotcha.” 

“Oh, hi Sans.” Liliane had come in, and was watching the skeleton curiously. He smiled at her.

“Heya, Liliane.” 

“What are you doing here?”

“Helping.” Sans said. “I would like to know more about the case, since Frisk was sort of involved with it.”

“I’m fine with it if you two are.” Liliane shrugged. Chad nodded. “In that case, let’s head out.”

* * *

 

“Any news?” Liliane asked a nearby officer when they got to the river.

“Ma’am!” The officer stood at attention. “We have found no more evidence here. However, we have had an anonymous tip that there might be more bodies at the abandoned fairground.”

“Alright, thank you. Keep at your work, Officer.” Liliane nodded.

“Yes Ma’am!”

“Well, it looks like we’re headed to the old fairground.” Liliane sighed.

* * *

 

“Here we are.” Liliane said, getting to the fairground. The first thing she did was give everyone some flashlights.

“Nah, I don’t need it. Thanks though.” Sans refused one, smiling, as his eyes went dark, turning everything lighter.

“That’s...really creepy.” Chad frowned.

“Alright, so this way…” Sans said, walking towards the ferris wheel. Everyone followed him, shining their lights into the dark crevices of the rides and old, dusty stands and benches, until they reached the wheel.

Where there was blood seeping out from under it.

“Uh oh.” Liliane frowned. “Officer! Make sure it’s safe to check that out.”

“Yes ma’am!” The officer went to check.

**_She really is the head dog here, huh?_ **

“Officer Liliane! It is safe to continue on.”

“Thank you.” She nodded, walking towards the ferris wheel and flashing her flashlight under the wheel. “There’s something under here…” She grabbed the things, only to scream in horror as the things she grabbed turned out to be a dead body.

“Liliane!” Sans jumped up to look in the wheel. With his vision, he saw exactly what it was.

“They’re all here.” He said to a horrified Chad and Shannon. “The kidnapped kids. They’re all here. But they’re all dead.” The two went fowards to check out the bodies, but something else caught Sans’ eye. He walked off a ways, seeing a knife off to the side. As he approached, curiously investigating around the knife, he became aware of something else.

A shiny, red, heart shaped necklace sitting around the knife made him realize that all of his suspicions were correct.

**_After all, it is Chara’s necklace._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving guys!  
> Sorry this chapter is a bit late.
> 
> I wanted to say, you guys are one of the things I'm thankful for. All of your support means so much to me, and I am so incredibly happy every time I get new comment. So thank you so much for everything.
> 
> Feel free to ask more questions, and I will see you on Saturday when I update again.
> 
> ~Skater


	61. Oh Dearie, What Have You Done?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mama, we all go to hell  
> Mama, we all go to hell  
> I'm writing this letter and wishing you well  
> Mama, we all go to hell

Chapter 60

 

“I’m really sorry, Sans, but you’re going to have to leave.” Liliane explained. “I know you’re worried about the kids, but protocol and all.”

“That’s perfectly fine, Liliane.” Sans smiled. They had no idea that the murder weapon was sitting right next to the crime scene. 

Nor that he had taken the necklace to confront Chara about.

It was a terrible idea, he knew. 

But now, he didn’t care. He just needed answers.

Somewhere, deep inside him, he knew that Chara likely was innocent. But his protective, peaceful Judge side overruled.

“I need to get back to the house anyways.” He said. 

**_I’ve got a_ ** **bone** **_to pick with Chara…_ **

* * *

 

Chara sat in front of Mila and Flowey, the two of whom were chatting.

Well, as good as a baby and a flower could chat.

“Mila, did you know you have an older brother?” Flowey asked her. She tilted her head.

“Ba-ba?”  _ Brother? _

“Yeah a brother.” Flowey said. “He was the prince of the underground.” Mila tilted her head to the other side and sneezed.

“Bless you.” Alice smiled from the game that she was playing with Chara. “Have you found your necklace yet?”

“Nope.” Chara shook their head. “No idea where it is.”

“T-that’s weird that it would just disappear like that.” Alice commented, moving her piece.

“It is.” Chara agreed, moving their piece.

“He was the sweetest child.” Flowey said. Mila giggled. “He really was! But it got the best of him in the end. He messed up big time, and he wound up dying.”

“Flowey!” Chara scolded him. Mila giggled.

“Don’ ma.” She babbled, signing  _ Don’t mind _ .

“She doesn’t mind.” Flowey said. “I’m not going into detail, don’t worry.”

“Alright.” Chara frowned. “So, Mila, who did you pick up signing from? Frisk?” To their surprise, she shook her head.

_ Handy. _

“Handy?” Chara asked. Mila nodded, her fluffy ears bouncing up and down.

_ He’s goopy and has a lot of hands. _ She explained.

“Ah.”  **_Nice to see she has an imaginary friend. Although that’s a weird name…_ **

Mila unexpectantly crawled over to Chara and clung onto them.

_ I love you, Chara. _

“I-I love you too, Mila.” Chara smiled. They were realizing that they really did like their sister. They returned to their game, but then realized that there was someone else there.

“Oh, hey, Sans.” They greeted him happily, but then they realized his eyes were dark.

**_What happened? Was Linda being a bitch again?_ **

“Give me my kid.” He demanded coldly, manipulating Mila’s gravity to move her towards him. “So, anything you have to say about what you’ve been doing when you sneak out?”

“Huh?” Chara looked at him, confused. “I went to visit Alex.”

“Alright.” Sans shrugged. “So, you went to visit Alex. Right.”   
“Yeah, I did.” They tilted their head. 

“Alright, drop the bs. Where did you really go?” Sans asked.

“What are you talking about? I went to Alex’s.” Chara frowned. Why was he being so stubborn?

“Well, that’s not what this is telling me.” He held up a necklace with a heart shape on it.

“That’s my necklace! Where did you find it?” They demanded, jumping up to grab it. Sans moved it out of their grasp.

“I’m gonna give you once chance to guess.” Sans growled, his eyes going back to normal. “Since you seem to be playing innocent.”

“Playing innocent in  _ what _ ?”

“I found this at the fairground, wrapped around a knife.” Sans revealed. “ _ Near where the bodies of the kidnapped children were found.” _

“What?” Chara gasped, bringing their hand to their mouth.

**_The other kidnapped children are...dead?_ **

“So, are you willing to tell me what you’ve been doing when sneaking out? How exactly you managed to kill 5 kids without being caught?” Sans demanded, chucking the necklace at Chara. They caught it and stood up, walking backwards.

“N-no! You’ve got it all wrong!” They stuttered as Sans cornered them into the wall. “I h-h-honestly was…”

“Killing people.” Sans’ eyes went dark again. “Admit it. You were just biding your time. Again. Just to kill  _ everyone. _ ” The tension in the room was extremely strong. Flowey and Mila were staring at the two, Mila looking completely confused at her father and sibling’s change in personality, Flowey horrified at the turn of events. Alice was grasping her arms nervously and biting her nails, worried about Chara.

After all, this was dangerously close to what they had lived through as a kid.

“Well?” Sans’ eyes went dark as he checked their stats. “You can’t deny it. You’re at LV 20.”

**_I knew it._ ** Chara gulped.

“I...I sw-swear I d-d-di-didn’t…”

“Stop lying!” Suddenly, Sans grabbed hold of Chara’s Soul and slammed them across the room.

_ They got up to fight back, but they were no longer in their house. And instead of fighting Sans, it was… _

**_Meredith!_** _Chara jumped up, backing away in terror._

* * *

 

Sans walked towards them. “Well?” he asked. “What do you have to say, you  _ monster? _ ”

“G-get away from me!” Chara cowered, to his surprise. “Y-you can’t...You can’t hurt me anymore, Meredith!” They covered their mouth in shock. Sans was confused.

**_Meredith? Who’s that?_ ** Chara looked up at him, shaking.  **_I’ve never seen them like that._ ** They got up and ran up the stairs, crying. Sans looked around, completely confused. Mila was staring at the two of them in shock. Flowey had on an angry face. Alice was looking at him, horrified. She quietly said something to Frisk, and then, moving around to be away from Sans, Frisk grabbed Flowey and the three followed Chara up the stairs. And then, Sans saw Toriel in the doorway, a plate of cupcakes on the ground, having been dropped in shock.

“Tori? What just happened?” Sans asked.

“Sans.” Toriel said simply. “Let’s get Mila to bed.”

* * *

Chara looked at themselves in the mirror, and let their eyes go dark to look at their stats.

 

CHARA LV 20 99/99 HP

 

“C-Chara?” They turned to see Alice, and saw her stats.

 

ALICE LV 1 12/16 HP

 

“Alice?” Chara raised an eyebrow. “You’re injured.” They turned off their vision to see Frisk and Flowey sitting on their bed. The girl sighed and awkwardly rubbed her arm.

“Not important.” She replied. “A-are you okay?”

“Sort of.” Chara sighed. “I have to prove I didn’t kill anyone.”

“What even happened?” Flowey asked.

“Flashback.” Chara said bluntly, without explaining. “I really,  _ really _ , need to leave. Now.” Everyone looked at them in surprise.

* * *

 

“Tori?” Sans asked as Toriel rocked Mila to sleep. “What exactly happened? Why did Chara call me ‘Meredith’?”

“You don’t know?” Toriel asked, clearly surprised. Sans shook his head. “Well, I’m not too sure myself. They never really told me. But, I have an idea.”

“It’s better than nothing.” Sans replied.

“Chara fell underground in 2015, I think it was? I’m not sure. They were 7.” Toriel explained. “The same age as Asriel was. When he found them, they were half dead. I’m shocked they didn’t just die upon falling. After all, they were covered in blood and cuts. Like someone had cut them wih a knife.”

“What?” Sans was surprised.

“Sans, they told me not long after they were separated from Frisk a few months ago. They were abused as a kid. I think Meredith was the person abusing them.” Sans sat down on the bed, horrified.

**_I caused a flashback in them…?_ **

“I need to apologise to them. Now.” Sans got up.

“Go ahead.” Toriel nodded grimly as he ran out of the room. He burst into Chara’s room.

“Chara, I-” He stopped as he saw the window was open. Alice, Frisk, and Flowey all turned to look at him as if he had just interupted a conversation. Frisk was shivering despite being covered in blankets. “What in the…” He saw a note on Chara’s bed, and he picked it up to read.

* * *

 

Dear Sans,

I’m really sorry for sneaking out. I admit, it was not a good idea on my part, and I understand that it threw me under the bus for this crime.

But I promise, I’ll make it up to you! I’ll show you that I’m innocent in this. That I could never carry out the deed of murder. But even if I can’t, I’ll just take the blame for it. Again, like how I did with that genocidal route. But I doubt you’ll believe me.

After all, I’m just a monster.

I’ll be back once I have proof.

 

-Chara

* * *

 

That last line caught Sans in his feelings. He let the note fall as he stared off in horror, realizing the damage of what he had just done.

And this, he knew, there was no going back from.


	62. Help Comes From Unexpected Places.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara gets help from someone unexpected, and a certain someone learns a lesson on why you shouldn't misgender people...

Chapter 61

 

Mud slopped up around Chara’s feet as they ran away from the Dreemurr house. The rain poured down hard, pulling on their short curls and straightening them as they became heavy with water. They wiped hot, salty tears from their face as the rain replaced them, making their efforts to keep their face dry worthless. They stopped, shivering. The rain had soaked their sweater, sticking the freezing material to their skin. Their pants and even their socks in their boots were wet, and Chara suddenly realized they wouldn’t get anywhere in this weather. Sighing, they changed their plans and decided to look for a place to hide and get warm.

And they knew just the person to help them.

Taking a breath through their chattering teeth, they took off.

* * *

It had taken them much longer than they would have liked to get to Alex’s house. For whatever reason, they couldn’t teleport. Shivering, they knocked on the door, rubbing their arms. As the door opened, their heart sunk as Linda stood in front of them.

“What do you want?” Linda demanded.

“C-c-can y-you l-let m-me i-i-in?” Chara asked, their teeth chattering. “I-I-I...P-p-please…”

Linda hesitated, thinking, leaving Chara to shiver in front of them. They both hated each other. Chara knew this. They didn’t get along, Linda’s beliefs went against all of Chara’s, and Linda had hurt everyone Chara cared about.

And more importantly, she had especially hurt Frisk. The one they cared about the most, the one who they relied on to live.

But…

**_This is my only chance to redeem myself for once. To show everyone that I’m not a monster. That I never would kill anyone! That I bring justice…And to do that, I need to get out of the rain. Even if I have to go to_ ** **her** **_for help._ **

“Alright.” Linda nodded reluctantly. “Come in.” Linda let the child in. Chara wasted no time in running inside, Linda closing the door behind them. They stood on one of the rugs, shivering as cold rainwater ran off of their body.

“Chara.” Linda sighed. “Come with me.” Linda lead them to the kitchen, where she put down towels. “Sit.” Chara sat down, confused.

“Alex!” Linda called, walking upstairs.

**_What the fuck is going on? Linda’s being nice to me?_ **

Suddenly, Alex ran downstairs, holding some sweatpants and a t-shirt.

“Chara? Why are you here?” She asked. 

“L-long s-st-story.” Chara shivered. Alex sighed and handed them the clothing.

“Mom told me to give you stuff to change into.” Alex explained. Chara nodded.

“Chara?” Linda came in. “Can you stand up?” Chara nodded, and stood up.

“Walk in a straight line.”

**_What the fuck?_ ** Chara frowned, but did so perfectly. Linda nodded.

“Well, good thing is, you’re not hypothermic.” Linda seemed to sigh in relief. “But we still should try to keep you warm. Alex, can you ask Marianne to help change Chara?”

“Yes, mom!” Alex walked Chara over to the maid, a pretty young woman with long blonde hair. “Marianne? Can you help change Chara.” The maid nodded and took Chara to the bathroom, where she helped them to change -an awkward experience for Chara, making their pale face blush even more than normal- But even worse, the t-shirt exposed their arms, and the scars that...that woman had forced them to have. After changing, the maid brough them to the living room and placed them on a towel, with a blanket covering them and slowly bringing their body temperature up. Alex joined them in watching the TV, bringing them some hot chocolate with a warning not to spill it. The two sat in silence, Chara still confused on what had just happened.

“Alex? What the hell just happened?” Chara asked her.

“Mom has first aid training. She took classes on becoming a paramedic, but decided to teach instead. Less stressful.” Alex explained. “She can’t just let a kid die. Yes, she’s not the best person. But she wouldn’t just let someone die.” Chara frowned, taking in the response as they bit their lip.

“I have a question for you.” Alex said.

“Yeah?”

“What happened to your arms? They’re all scarred.” Alex pointed at their arms. Chara sighed.

“My stepmom before I lived with the Dreemurrs made me do this.” Chara explained. 

“What?” Alex looked at them intently.

“I don’t know what happened to her. She’s dead, for all I know.” Chara rubbed their arms. “But she was incredibly abusive. Just like Paul.”

“Alice’s dad?” Alex looked shocked.

“Exactly like Paul. The difference is, Paul tried to kill his daughter and failed. She tried to kill her son and succeeded.” Chara sat up. “I had an adopted brother. He was mute and used sign language, which is how I know it. She killed him for trying to defend me and then tried to kill me as well.”

“That’s horrible!” Alex had her hand over her mouth. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what was some of the stuff she did?”

“Well…” Chara frowned. “She used to beat me and Jonathan up all the time. She enforced extreme gender roles on the both of us. Like, I was only allowed to wear dresses, and I couldn’t speak unless spoken to. She never taught me to read or write, I had to teach myself. I couldn’t leave the house even to say goodbye to my dad when…” Chara gulped. They still weren’t prepared to talk about that. “That was when these happened.” Chara held up their cut arms. “This was a ‘punishment’, according to her. I was four.”

“You were  _ four!? _ ”

“Yep.” Chara’s voice made it obvious that they were resigned to the injustice they had faced. “Do you see now why I hate being referred to as female, Linda?” Chara called out to the woman, who had been listening in the hallway. “I know you’re listening. I’m not an idiot. It’s because any reminder that I’m biologically female is a reminder of my stepmother.” They huffed, pulling the blanket around themselves. Linda came out, shock obvious on her face.

“Don’t bother saying anything.” Chara sighed. “I doubt you’d understand. By the way, thank you. For helping me.” Chara smiled at her.

“Y...you’re welcome.” Linda smiled back nervously. “Um...I don’t know what happened with you at your house. Do you want me to call Sans and-”

“No.” Chara interupted her. “I don’t want him knowing I’m here.” Linda tilted her head and said nothing.

“Ok.” Linda sighed. “We’ll talk again in the morning. But for now, you can stay here. It’s not safe outside for anyone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters after this one...  
> ...I'm sorry. That's all I'm going to say.
> 
> See you next week!
> 
> ~Skater


	63. How Stupid Can This Decision Be?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "When I see your face  
> I hope you're proud of me  
> I hope you're proud...  
> Cause I'm spending all my days  
> Trying to find a way  
> To make you proud of me..."

Chapter 62

 

Chara woke up the next day, completely confused about what went on and where they were.

And then they remembered.

...Unfortunately. They sat up, rubbing their arms and feeling the ugly scars running all over them. Yawning, they looked out the window, seeing the sunlight come through the clouds and trees.

They had to admit, Linda was extremely good at exterior decoration. Slowly, they got up, looking around. They hadn’t really noticed the rooms during the Christmas party or the previous night, but they were...actually quite nice. The color scheme was burgundy and chocolate brown. The couches were that burgundy color, with the floors being a rich chocolate brown, accented with some golden flowers and pillows. The fireplace was surrounded by a brown marble and gold-colored metal, with some more flowers and holly leaves decorating the mantle. Looking around, they realized that there was holly everywhere- On the mantle, around the TV, draped carfully around the windows, on the tables…

**_It’s beautiful._ ** They kept looking. They were sitting next to Alex, who had fallen asleep next to them, on one of the couches. To their left, there was a window, out which Chara could see the side of the house and the bushes and Christmas lights that had yet to be taken down. Overall, the house was very clean and neat, and they enjoyed the aesthetic.

**_What time is it?_ **

They took out their phone.

**_6:30._** **_And I have several texts from Mom, Sans, and Alice_**. Sighing, they checked the messages.

* * *

Sans: where are you? tori’s worried

Sans: seriously, where’d you go? i thought you cared about frisk and proving yourself

Sans: chara. please text me back. i’m worried about you.

Sans: chara i didn’t mean it. please forgive me.

Sans: chara, please come home.  mila misses you. we all miss you.

* * *

Chara rolled their eyes at the texts, until they got to the last one from Sans.

* * *

Sans: chara, frisk, alice, and flowey left too. please come back. please. i’m sorry.

* * *

Chara sighed and went to the texts from Toriel.

* * *

Toriel: My child, please come home. I can’t lose another child. Please.

Toriel: Chara, I can’t lose you again. I don’t want you to get hurt. Sans didn’t know about what happened in your past.

Toriel: Please come home, my child. I refuse to lose another kid. I can’t lose you. I don’t want to. Sans didn’t mean it.

* * *

They gulped. They hadn’t thought about how their actions would affect her.

**_I’d rather her think I was dead over her thinking I killed someone._ **

Another text came in as they were thinking.

* * *

Toriel: Chara, please come home. We’re sorry. None of us really think you could have killed anyone. Please. We all miss you.

* * *

Chara sighed and ignored the next few texts that came in to read Alice’s single text.

* * *

Alice: We’re coming to find you.

* * *

Chara was surprised at Alice’s bluntness, and texted her back.

* * *

Chara: No! It’s not safe, you guys are human.

Alice: And you are too. Remember, everything that happens to you happens to Frisk as well.

* * *

Chara sighed. They had forgotten.

* * *

Alice: Just answer me one thing.

Chara: Shoot.

Alice: Why are you at Alex’s house?

Chara: Oh, it was cold and muddy out.

Alice: Ah. Well, we’re meeting you there in five.

Chara: Wait, how did you know I’m here? And who is ‘we’?

* * *

No answer. Chara sighed, frustrated.

“Chara?” They turned to Alex, who had woken up.

“Someone’s coming to get me. It might just be Alice, it might be my whole family.” Chara told her.

**_Although, based on my texts, it might just be Alice, Frisk, and Flowey._ **

“Uh oh.” Alex got up.

“What time does Linda normally wake up?”

“Depends on if we have school, but if not, she wakes up at 9. It’s Tuesday, right?”

“Yep.” Chara nodded. “So we have school.”

“Then she wakes up at 7 and gets ready. We live like five minutes away, it doesn’t matter what time we get there.” Alex looked up at the knocking at the door.

“Must be my family.” They pursed their lips as Alex got up to open the door. They knew even before she opened the door that Frisk was there. 

“Oh, hey.” Alex seemed surprised. “Um, Chara? It’s just Alice, Frisk, and Flowey.” Chara sighed and got up to greet the three at the door.

“I-I promise it’s just us three.” Alice said as soon as they got to the door.

“It’d better be.” Chara muttered.

“We’re coming to help you.” Flowey said.

“What? No!” Chara retorted.

“Wait, what exactly happened?” Alex demanded.

“Sans accused me of killing the kidnapped kids.” Chara explained. “Long story.” They added when Alex looked at them in confusion and shock. “But you guys can’t come! What if the kidnapper kills you guys?”

“It’s not like you’re safe either.” Flowey pointed out. “If Frisk dies, you do too.”

“Exactly. Just go home. I’ve got this.” Chara argued.

“No.” Alice glared at them. “Remember last time, when you got separated from Frisk?” Chara pouted. “We’re coming with you. Whether you want us to or not.”

“Alright, fine.” Chara snapped.

“Wait, where are you going?” Alex interupted.

“The fairground. It’s where the bodies were found. There might be some more clues there.” Chara said.

“I’m coming too.” Alex fixed her posture.

“No.” Chara glared at her.

“All my friends are going. I’m not going to school and not being able to focus because I’m worried about you guys.” She glared back. “I’m going whether you like it or not.”

“Fine. I’ll take the blame when Linda murders me in my sleep.” Chara threw their arms in the air. “Can I have my sweater?”

“Sure.” Alex left to grab it.

“So why’d you come here? You know Linda hates you.” Flowey asked.

“I was actually hoping for Alex to help me.” Chara explained. “It was rainy and muddy, and my clothing was making me really cold.  I couldn’t even teleport. Now, speaking of which, what happened to  _ you _ , yesterday?” Chara directed the question at Alice.

“W-what?” Alice frowned.

“You were injured.” Chara narrowed their eyes. “Your HP as at 12/16.” Alice frowned and rubbed her arms. Then, Chara realized. “You didn’t-”

“Let’s drop the subject.” Alice snapped. “I relapsed. Ok-okay? Let’s drop it.” Chara shut up. Frisk frowned.

_ What does she mean? _

_ She, um, used to hurt herself. She relapsed and did it again. _

_ With a knife? _ Frisk’s eye were wide.

_ Yep. _ Chara signed back.  _ She doesn’t like to talk about it. It’s not her proudest moments. _ Frisk nodded. Alex came back with Chara’s sweater, which they put on.

“Sorry it took so long, I wrote a note to Mom.” Alex explained. “We should probably go before she comes downstairs. It’s 7:00.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Chara said as the two followed Alice, Flowey, and Frisk away from the neighborhood.

“I know a way where we won’t be seen.” Alex said. 

“Then by all means,” Chara looked back at her house. They saw Linda walk downstairs and check the couch, only to see the note. They saw the horrified look on her face as she put her hand to her face, and then her sit down on the couch with her face in her hands. As much as they disliked Linda, they felt bad for her.

“...lead the way.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Sans paced the hall worriedly. Toriel was rocking Mila in her rocking chair, a saddned expression on her face as Mila had a blank look on her face.

“Do you think they’re okay?” Toriel choked out.

“I hope so.” Sans turned towards the window, internally scolding himself.

**_Why did I have to say that to them? Why did I break that bond?_ **

Over the last 24 hours, he realized just how much he cared about the kid. And he was sure that in some way, Chara cared about him as well. And now, all three of their human children were out looking for a known murderer to prove that Chara was innocent.

And it was all his fault. The guilt was overwhelming.

**_I mean, Chara can protect themselves and Frisk and Alice, Flowey can protect himself as well. But still…_ **

Speaking of which, he was especially worried about Alice. It had come to quite a shock to him to find some bloody razors left on her part of the bathroom. Although it was still a shock, he couldn’t say he was surprised.

**_With everything she’s been through, I’d probably be more surprised if she_ ** **didn’t** **_self harm. But she needs to get help. And fast._ **

“What do we do, Sans?” Toriel asked, looking down at Mila, who still had that shocked, blank expression on her face. “Should we look for them?”

“Of course we should. But we have no idea where to start.” Sans sighed. “I mean, they can’t be stupid enough to go to the crime scene.”

**_...or are they? They’ve proven my expectations wrong several times._ **

Sans decided to think about it a bit and see what he could come up with.

**_Let’s see, so first of all, whoever did this had to be an adult. No kid is sadistic enough or strong enough to do this. They also have to have some sort of pickpocket skills. They took Chara’s necklace, after all. And then they need to be intelligent. After all, the police have zero leads whatsoever. The kids’ names who were killed were Andrew, Laila, Ilene, Carrie, and Elliot...Wait._ ** He realized something.

“Alice!” Sans jumped up all of a sudden. Everything made sense! How Chara’s necklace went missing, why Chara was blamed, how the kids were killed.

“What about Alice?” Toriel asked, standing up.

“I know who did this. But first, we have to tell the kids to get home. Now. It’s too dangerous for them to be out. Even more so, if I’m correct.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This arc isn't TOO bad in the feels department.  
> ...yet.
> 
> A lot of interesting theories! I've seen you guys suspect Meredith, Jerry, Horrortale Sans, Gaster via Mila, Linda, Temmie, Gerson, and Paul.
> 
> Let me just say, in the words of a certain drag queen, "What you see, isn't always the truth."
> 
> So, in other news, I wanted to ask your opinion on something.  
> If I published an actual book, would you guys read it? Here's the premise:
> 
> The Test. Not like the one you take in school, the written ones that you stress out over entirely too much. But this Test determines your standing in the Magical world. Do you stay Neutral, or become Good? It all depends on how well you do.  
> Fail 3, stay neutral.  
> Fail 2, become Good.  
> Fail 1, Work in the Government.  
> Everyone takes the Test at age 16. No exceptions. Whether you want to or not.  
> ...Until now.  
> 16-year-old Fadiya is barred from taking the Test due to her half-human status. Not to mention, she's partially corrupted as well. The flowers on her collarbone won't let her forget that.  
> However, Fadiya has never been one for following rules.
> 
> The story's still a WIP, I'm working out the characters and basic plot still. But I wanted to ask your guys' opinion on it.
> 
> Anyways, see you next week!
> 
> ~Skater


	64. Very Stupid, Chara. Very.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yikes my dude

Chapter 63

 

“What now?” Alex asked. They had made it out of Alex’s neighborhood, and had made it to the outskirts of town, near the fairgrounds. The grounds had been blocked off by police, and Chara had said not to go near the police. They looked around, seeing some blueberry bushes next to the group, blocking them from the sight of the police.

“In here.” Chara crawled under the bush. Alex and Alice looked at each other, then Frisk, who looked at Flowey.

“Frisk can hold me. I’ll be fine.” Flowey said. Alice frowned.

“It’s a bit dangerous.” Alex said.

“We’ll be fine.” Frisk said out loud, surprising Alex. She shrugged, then looked at Alice before crawling after Chara. Alice motioned for Frisk to crawl under next, and then after they did, she looked around one last time before following the others.

She didn’t quite understand in that moment, but she had an odd feeling.

One of being watched.

* * *

Chara was waiting for the rest of the kids while they listened to Liliane read the forensic reports.

“Five kids. All murdered,” She reported in a monotone voice. “Stab wounds, internal bleeding, bruising, although hard to tell from other injuries, burns, acid, water in lungs. Blood tests report traces of various drugs.” 

**_She sounds dead inside. I would too if I had to read what happened to those poor kids._ **

“So, it appears that the kids were put through some sort of torture.” Liliane nodded at an officer standing guard. “For whatever fucked up reason, I have no idea. It looks like they were drugged, stabbed, beaten, drowned, burned, and had acid thrown on them. The causes of death appear to be blood loss.” 

**_How does one go about even getting acid?_ ** Chara wondered as they noticed the other kids crawling up next to them.

“What’s happening?” Alex asked in a whispered tone.

“She’s going over the various causes of death,” Chara explained. “They were basically tortured and left to die.”

“H-how horrible…” Alice looked down and pursed her lips. Chara felt a prick of sadness from Frisk. They looked over to see the kid staring straight at Liliane.

“Frisk, there’s nothing you can do. We can’t let her know we’re here.” Chara told them. They shook their head.

_ I’m not sad about Mommy. I’m sad about the kids. _ Frisk explained.  _ They had families. They had lives ahead of them. _ Chara though about it for a second. Frisk was right.

**_I’m suddenly_ ** **really** **_sad for the kids. Not to mention angry at the kidnapper._ ** They clenched their fists.

“Well, you go look for more clues relating to this crime. I’m going to go look for evidence that  _ he _ is here.” Liliane walked off, handing the report to the officer.

“Let’s go.” Chara whispered, crawling on. Hands shaking, they crawled along under the bush as they tried to find somewhere to investigate.

“Y-you do realize how illegal it is, right?” Alice crawled up next to Chara. “We’re int-truding on a police investigation.”

“Oh, I know.” Was all they said as Chara stopped. “Here.” The crawled out from under the bush. Alice frowned, hesitating. “Come on, you said you wanted to go, right?” Alice followed at Chara’s bekoning. The other two, Frisk holding Flowey, crawled out.

“Alright, we have to be quiet.” Chara told them. “We’re not supposed to be here. If we get caught, we can say goodbye to me being able to go out anywhere for the rest of my life. Make sure your phones are on silent.” At that sentence, Chara took out their phone, and saw that they had more texts from Sans and Toriel, which they ignored as they turned off their phone. “Alright, let’s go check this shit out.” The group walked over to the ferris wheel.

“Let’s see, so the bodies were dumped here.” Chara said. “What were their names again?”

“I can’t remember.” Flowey said. Frisk started tapping his pot nervously before putting him down to pull grass from the ground. Alice stopped them.

“Frisk, this is a cr-crime scene! You can’t-” She was stopped when Frisk suddenly hugged her arm. Tightly. “Chara, help please.” Chara sighed, knowing there was nothing they could do to stop the Frisk. Chara shook their head before they turned back. “Anyways, let’s see what we can find.” Something caught their eye. Turning slowly to the side, they saw, among the leaves rolling along the ground and the soft wind that whistled through the trees, a knife stuck straight into an old, rotting tree trunk softened by time. The moon shown through the gaps in the trees as Chara walked towards the knife, their steps crunching leaves.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

**_This must be where Sans found my necklace._ ** They looked back at the others, who were watching them react to the knife.  **_It’s odd, but I feel like I’ve seen that particular knife before._ ** A memory of ribbons and falling underground started to surface before they banished the thought. They took a look around to make sure it was safe. The first thing they noticed once out of their trance was an extremely overbearing stench. They clenched their nose and continued to survey the woods.They turned around. 

“It’s cool, you guys can come over.” Chara told the others, who followed them. 

“It smells weird over here.” Alex commented, crinkling her nose.

“I noticed that too. It’s kinda metallic.” Chara said. “Should we check it out?”

“That sounds like something that you would do in a horror movie.” Alex pointed out.

“That’s true.” 

“Well, at the very least, we aren’t splitting up.” Flowey pointed out, as Frisk nodded in agreement.

“Exactly.” Chara nodded. But then, they noticed something.

Something glowing. Without thinking, they went into the forest.

“Chara, wait!” The others followed, Alice hesitating.

She had a REALLY bad feeling about this. The feeling of being watched hadn’t gone away, and now they were away from anyone who could help them…

She remembered the names of the other kids. Andrew. Laila. Irene. Carrie. Elliot.

She paused. There was a connection with the names! But what could it mean?

Her heart sank. Deep down, inside, she knew. She had had a feeling this whole time.

She also knew that there was no way she was going to be left alone near the woods if her suspiscions were correct. So, she followed.

* * *

Chara came to a clearing, so surrounded by trees that not even the moon shone through, leaving the clearing in complete darkness. That is, complete darkness, except for a glow coming from a bright pink Soul laying on the ground, next to the body of a dead officer. Their heart beat in their throat as they approached, grasping the Soul with their magic.

“Someone else is dead.” They announced. “An officer.” Frisk walked up, only to drop Flowey in shock and bring their hands to their mouth.

“Frisk?” Chara tilted their head as they felt a wave of horror and sadness come over their sibling.

“M...Mommy?” Frisk whispered. Chara turned back to the body and let their eyes go into night vision. They then realized that Frisk was indeed correct.

They were holding the Soul of Liliane. Her body was curled up in a fetal position, and her body had been cut open from the chest to her stomach, and blood was leaking out, slowly, as if there was no more life force to push the blood out. Her eyes were wide open, smeared mascara and dark circles surrounding her bright blue, fearstruck eyes. Tearstreaks blackened with mascara had made their way down her face.

Frisk sat down next to her, blood getting on their sweatshirt as they brushed some hair out of her face. An expression of pain came over them as they laid down next to her, even more blood getting on them.

“M-mommy…” They choked out, tears falling from their own eyes, joining the tearstains down their mother’s face. Alex’s hands covered her mouth in absolute, compete astoundment.

“Who did this?” Alex asked. “Who is unhinged enough to kill an  _ officer _ ?”

Chara then got a terrible thought.

**_No, he couldn’t have...there’s no way…_ **

They looked around, seeing Alice join them and that the only exit was the way they had come.

**_This was a terrible idea._ ** They realized, as Alice gasped at the sight of Frisk sobbing over their mother’s corpse.

“No…” She whispered. “Why did you do this…?”

“Alice?” Chara turned to her, confused.

“I have an idea of w-who could have done this.” Alice revealed. “Think about it. The k-kids were kidnapped i-in this order: Andrew, Laila, Irene, Carrie, Elliot. Put that in order.” Chara did so in their head.

**_Andrew,_ **

**_Laila,_ **

**_Irene,_ **

**_Carrie,_ **

**_Elliot...wait a second._ **

“It spells out your name. The first letters.”

“E-exactly.” Alice gulped. “Which, can only mean one thing.” The two looked at Alex and Frisk. “We need to get out of here.” Alice stood up and started walking towards the exit, only to hear a thud. She turned around, and gasped at the sight of a figure holding a frying pan, over a knocked out Chara. The figure ran and slammed the pan onto Frisk’s head, and then Alex, knocking the two of them out as well. Alice shook as the figure approached her.

“Hey! Not on my watch!” The figure turned around to see Flowey, who had gotten out of his pot and managed to get to Liliane’s Soul, absorbing it. Suddenly, Flowey started to glow, brighter than anything Alice had ever seen. He formed, mid glow, into a goat-like figure, before the glow faded, and he was now a small, humanoid goat that looked like a mixture of Toriel and Asgore, with a green and yellow sweatshirt and capri pants. He summoned some fire magic. The figure laughed.

“And who, exactly, are  _ you _ ?” It asked. Alice’s heart sank even further, although she didn’t know why.

The voice was unrecognizable. She gulped, her saliva getting stuck in her throat.

“I’m Asriel. The crown prince of the Underground. And I’m challenging you to a fight.” Suddenly, Alice saw everything in black and white. The figure smiled under their hood.

“Very well. If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get!” The figure lunged foward to Asriel, going to stab him with a knife they suddenly had. However, Asriel dodged, and shot some fire magic at them, burning the figure. They yelled in pain, and went back to stab Asriel again.

Miss.

“How dare you hurt my friends. How dare you hurt my family.” Asriel growled and he shot some stars at the figure. The figure dodged, throwing his knife at Asriel.

Another miss. Asriel loaded up his gun, but the figure broke the rules and threw the knife at him again, hitting Asriel in the chest. His health went down as the battle ended. Asriel panted, holding his chest as the figure raised the frying pan again, knocking out Asriel. Everything turned back to normal. The figure turned back to Alice, who had watched the whole endevor, with a hope that Asriel would win, now gone as she looked up to the figure. She gulped again, unable to move, unable to make a single sound.

“It’s so nice to see you.” The figure smiled, bringing up the pan. “Now, we can have some  _ fun _ . For me, at least.”

They laughed, an insane, unhinged laugh as they brought the pan hard on Alice’s head. She fell to the ground as the world went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felt like updating early ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Feel free to ask questions!  
> See you next time!
> 
> ~Skater


	65. Unlikely help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After even more bad news, Sans turns to an unlikely ally to look for the children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN A YEAR SINCE I POSTED THIS WHOOOO

Chapter 64

 

Toriel stared at Sans in shock. “What?”

“Somehow Paul got out of prison. He’s loose. He has to be behind these kidnappings and murders!” Sans insisted. Toriel paled visibly at the thought.

“We really have to find the kids as soon as possible if that’s the case. I will go grab Mila and we can go look. I’m not leaving my child at the house if there’s a kidnapper.” Toriel ran up the stairs.

**_Now that she mentions Mila, the baby radio has been awfully quiet._ ** A spring of worry popped into his mind.

**_Too quiet._ ** A scream from the radio and upstairs had him going from a stressed stand at the table to a dead run upstairs. He slammed open the slightly open door and stopped. staring at the wreck before him.

The room was clearly ransacked, from magic use and signs of a struggle, along with a window that had been shattered. The glass has fallen, shining in the light in an empty crib.

“What the fuck?” Sans gasped in horror. His eyes went dark.

“Sans,” Toriel choked out. “Someone kidnapped our baby.”

“It _has_ to be the same person who kidnapped the other kids.” Sans growled. “I’m calling the cops.” Sans pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.

“911, what’s your emergency?” The operator asked.

“My daughter has gone missing.” Sans reported, his voice cracking. Everything that had happened in the past day was starting to really get to him.

“Can you give me the details?” The operator asked, her tone taking a more serious edge.

“My wife and I were downstairs discussing our other children. They ran off somewhere, and we’re trying to figure out where they went. My wife went to grab our daughter to bring her with us, but she found her room ransacked, the window broken, and Mila gone.”

“Mila is your daughter, I assume?” The operator asked.

“Yes.”

“I will send the police over to your house to investigate. We will also get another amber alert out for her.” The operator promised. “I’m sorry sir, but that’s all we can do. Can I have your address?”

“That’s fine.” Sans sighed, frustrated. “Thank you anyways.” He told her his address.

“Alright, I will send the local police over to you.” The operator said. “Do you need to stay on the line?”

“Nope. Thank you.” Sans hung up. “They’re sending the police over.”

“I hope they get here fast,” Toriel looked down at her paws miserably. “But in any case, one of us needs to look for the others.” Sans could hear the pain in her voice she was trying to hide.

“Tori…”

“You go look for them. I’ll stay here and talk to the cops.” Toriel turned away.

“Tori.”

“Just go!” Toriel suddenly threw some flames at Sans, making him jump and run out the door. She shut the door behind him. Sans could hear her crying as soon as the door shut.

**_She’s so unhappy...She’s lost so many children. First Asriel, then the fallen children, and now Chara, Frisk, Alice and Mila...no wonder she’s so heartbroken._ ** Sans sighed and teleported out of the house.

“Welp, nothing else to do but go look for them.” He sadly collected himself, put his hands into his pockets, and walked off.

**_I have a feeling that they went to talk to Alex. I’m gonna go visit and see._**

* * *

****Sans knocked on the door of the Smith-Walkins. A small boy opened the door.

**_Is this Jimmy or Alex?_ **

“Are you Jimmy or Alex?” Sans asked.

“I’m Jimmy.” He blinked, seeming surprised that Sans couldn’t tell the difference.

“Is Alex here? I want to ask if he’s seen Chara.”

“No, she-erm, he’s not here.” Jimmy corrected himself.

“She?” Sans tilted his head.

“Um, don’t tell Alex I told you. Promise?” Jimmy pled. Sans nodded. He seemed to relax before continuing, “Alex’s trans. She’s not out to mom, though.”

“Gotcha. Where did she go?”

“She left with Chara and the others.”

“Really now?” Sans thought that was interesting. “In that case, can I talk to Linda?”

**_I can’t believe I’m going to do this._ **

“Okay…” Jimmy pursed his lips as he left. Sans could hear him yell to Linda. “Hey mom? Someone’s here to talk to you.” Linda came to the door, only to pout at the sight of Sans. She looked different. She had on sweatpants and a hoodie rather than her normal dress shirt and pants. She wore no makeup, her hair was up in a bun, and her eyes were red from crying.

“Oh. It’s you.” Linda crossed her arms and leaned against the door.

“Is my child here?” Sans asked.

“They were here.” Linda looked off. “But they left and took my son with them.”

“So, you’re finally using the right pronouns.” Sans noted.

“Yes. They gave me a good lesson.” Linda muttered. “But yeah. They’re gone. Alex explained to me what they were going to do in a note.”

“Can I see the note?” Sans asked.  Linda scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Sure, whatever.” Linda handed him the note.

* * *

Dear mom,

I’m really sorry, but me, Chara, Alice, Frisk, and Flowey are going to help try to prove Chara’s innocence. Chara told me that Sans blames them for the kidnappings and murders, which is not true at all, so we’re going to find proof that he’s wrong.

I’m sorry for just leaving. I promise I’ll be home soon.

With love,

Alex

* * *

“Chara left me a note like this too.” Sans said. “We need to go look for the four of them.”

“What do you mean, ‘we’?” Linda demanded.

“I mean, you and me.”

“No. I refuse to work with a monster.” Linda snapped.

“Linda. Think about it. _Your_ kid is missing. It doesn’t matter anything else, you shouldn’t be crying about it, you should be searching your heart out for him.” Sans bit his tongue at the wrong pronoun, but decided it was better for Alex’s safety. “Not to mention, there’s still the kidnapper at large. And the kids who were kidnapped were murdered by a psychopath. So there’s a serial killer on the loose, which probably killed the kids. So your kid is looking for a killer. Do you really want to _not_ look for your kids because you’d have to work with a monster?” Linda paled.

“Alright.” Linda sighed reluctantly. “Let’s go.”

“Mom?” Jimmy frowned.

“Jimmy, I promise I’ll be right back. Your dad is here if you need anything.” Linda promised.

“Alright.” Suddenly, Jimmy ran over and gave her a hug. She hugged him back without hesitation.

* * *

To Sans’ surprise, Linda came along in her current state.

**_She looks a lot better without makeup. It might be because her face isn’t orange, though._ ** Sans noted. Linda had large blue eyes, freckles, and a small nose.

“Where to now?”

“Let’s check out the fairground. That’s where the dead children are.” Sans said. “Chara knows that. They’re probably there.”

“Alright.” Linda looked down as the two walked to the fairground.

“So, what exactly happened when Chara went to visit you?” Sans decided to ask.

“They came to the house in the rain. They had obviously been crying.” Linda said. “I started out in paramedic training, so I checked them to see if they were hurt. Thankfully, they weren’t. I asked Marriane to change them and they stayed the night. I overheard them talking to Alex.”

“About what?”

“Their stepmother.” Sans felt his non-existent blood run cold.

“What did they say about her?” Sans asked.

“Well, their stepmother was abusive. She made them cut their arms as punishment when they were four, and forced really extreme gender roles on them, which is why they dissociated with being female.” Linda looked sad. Sans’ heart dropped.

**_Why didn’t you just tell me, Chara? I wouldn’t have yelled at you like that…_ **

“Did...did you not know that?” Linda seemed surprised. Sans nodded.

“They never told me. They’re so strong, I never would have guessed…”

“Same here.” Linda nodded. “I’ll be honest. I was raised Christian, I’ll die Christian. I was raised to dislike gays and trans people. But…” She looked away. “Sometimes, you just have to accept others for who they are. You know? I…” She sighed again. “I had a friend. She was transgender and gay. She was obviously not out. You know, I was born in Texas. Not exactly the best place to live if you’re gay.” She laughed nervously. “I was one of her only friends. She struggled so much with it. I watched her struggle to keep it a secret when she just wanted to be happy and live how she wanted. I...I thought I could trust my mama not to tell anyone. I was wrong.” Sans knew where this was going.

“She told my friend’s mama. Before I knew it, I never saw her again. Mama said she was gonna get help, but I was still confused. I mean, I was in middle school. Mama told me that when people choose to live like that, they need help. It wasn’t until I was in college that I found out what happened to her. She got sent to conversion therapy. Y’know, with electroshock?” Sans paled.

“Yeah. I know.” **_One of the things I wound up finding out Dad did after he died._ **

“She wound up coming home with horrible memories as a sophomore in high school. 3 years they had her in therapy. The day after she came home, she killed herself.” Linda wiped tears from her eyes. “I...I think it was when I found out that she did that was when I decided that I didn’t want anyone else to live like that.”

“So you’re openly transphobic and homophobic because you don’t want people to die because they’re gay or trans?” Sans scoffed. “What a way to help them.”

“Well, what else am I supposed to do? That’s the only way I know.” Linda snapped.

“You can work on accepting others. Keeping your mouth shut when you disagree with how others live. As long as they’re not hurting anyone. I mean, you’re referring to Chara with the right pronouns now. That’s a start.” Sans pointed out.

“Yeah. It is.” Linda agreed. “I’m sorry. Just...I didn’t know what to do. I’ve been such a horrible person to everyone. And I mean, everyone. Even my family.”

“Admitting it is the first step to becoming a better person. You can still change.” Sans told her.

“I hope so.” Linda looked forward. “I can’t be a terrible person anymore. I’m tired of being terrible. I...I don’t want to do this anymore.”

The two spent the rest of the walk to the fairground in silence.

“Alright, so let’s go to that hollow where I found the knife and Chara’s locket.” Sans lead Linda to the hollow. There was just a knife there now.

“What’s this?” Sans smelled something very strong and metallic.

Too strong.

“It’s this way.” Linda led him to a side hallow that was entirely dark.

“Here, let me.” Sans took out his phone and turned on the light.

Revealing the dead body of an officer, the source of the smell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, and by the way...  
> One person has guessed and gotten the correct answer as to the identity of the kidnapper and killer.  
> I'm not saying who it was, what they said, on what chapter it was, or even whether it's on this site or on Fanfiction.  
> But one person has guessed and gotten the right answer =) I'm pretty sure that if you think about everything that you guys know, it'll fall into place.  
> Also, a question I've gotten a couple of times:  
> If you want to make fanart, go ahead and do so! Feel free to tag my deviantart if it's on that site (it's ArtofSkating, same as on here) or my tumblr (ask-the-undertale-kiddos), or tag it on my new instagram, @artofskating_official !  
> Thank you all for reading and your support over this entire year, and I can't believe it's already been a year! We've gotten so far since I posted this. I went from being a new author on here and a newish author on Fanfiction, to having the largest PTA Sans fanfic on here, and the most reviewed Undertale fanfic on Fanfiction! Words cannot express how grateful I am for all of you and your support, and I am so happy that you enjoy my work so much.  
> I will see you all on Saturday, and good luck to anyone taking finals.  
> Love you all!
> 
> ~Skater


	66. Yikes My Dude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yikes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ  
> PLEASE READ  
> Ok, so some of you guys already know this, but I wanted to say,  
> Just because one person was right, doesn't mean everyone else was wrong.  
> You'll see what I mean in the next few chapters.
> 
> Enjoy~

Chapter 65

 

Chara had a horrible headache.. One that felt like being stabbed, drilled, and punched all at the same time. They groaned as they opened their eyes. They blinked in surprise at the dark wall in front of them.

**_This isn’t home. Where am I?_ ** They tried to get up, but couldn’t due to something constricting them around their arms. They looked down and saw thick rope holding them down and keeping them tied to other people. They looked to their left and they flinched as they saw an unconscious Frisk covered in blood. They were about to scream, but then they remembered that it wasn’t Frisk’s blood. It was then that everything from...however long ago it had been...popped back into their head: Sans confronting them about the murders, their flashback with  _ that woman _ , running away, spending the night at Alex’s house, hunting for clues as to the real killer, finding Liliane’s cold, lifeless, bloody corpse, and then Alice figuring out the secret behind the choices in victims, before a sudden burst of pain and then passing out. Liliane was long dead now, another life gone, stolen, ended prematurely. They felt horrible for Frisk, finding their biological mother dead like that. 

And it just made them even angrier at whoever had done this. They looked around at their surroundings. They were in a basement of some sort. Chara used their magic to try the door, but unfortunately, it was locked. Frowning, they checked for other places to get out. No windows, just a lightbulb, flickering the group out of darkness and light, a bathtub in the corner, and a table. 

**_Okay, Chara, think. How can we get out of this situation?_ ** They tried to wiggle out of the rope, but it was too tight to do so.

**_I think it’s going to cut off someone’s circulation._ **

“Chara?” They turned to hear Alex’s voice. “Where are we?”

“Some sort of basement,” Chara answered. “Are you okay? Whoever that was hit us pretty hard.”

“Yeah. But there’s some sort of goat creature here. To my right.”

“Goat?” Chara realized something. “Is he wearing a green sweater?”

“Yeah, why?” Alex reported.

“Azzy!” Chara squeaked, startling the goat awake.

“Chara?” Asriel asked, excitement in his voice.

“I can’t believe you’re back! I’d hug you, but kinda not possible right now.” Chara said, turning their head to see him.

“Gotcha. Let’s get outta here first, then let’s reunite.” Asriel agreed. “Any ideas?”

“Rope’s too tight to get out of.” Chara said. “Unless you can summon some fire magic to burn it.”

“Here.” Asriel burned the rope, allowing himself to get out.

“G-guys, d-don’t…” 

“Why not, Alice?” Chara asked, turning to their right as Asriel went around the same way. Then they saw what Alice was talking about at the same time as Asriel.

When Asriel bumped straight into the figure.

“Oh, it’s you again.” The figure said, in an extremely familiar voice. One that Chara recognised immediately, and then they realized why Alice was so scared.

“Paul,” Chara growled.

“Chara.” Paul took off the hood, smirking at them. He held something in his arms. “How terrible to see you again.”

“Ditto,” Chara deadpanned. “Why did you do this? Why did you kill Frisk’s mother?”

“Oh, that officer?” Paul asked, pulling out a knife and moving the object to the other shoulder. “She was in the way. I’m not quite ready to go back to prison, you know?”

“You killed someone’s mother.” Chara deadpanned, trying to figure out what he had in his arms.

“For the second time.” Paul tilted his head. “Do you remember, Chara? How you brought up in court that I murdered my wife?”

“I don’t regret it,” Chara snapped. “You deserve to rot in hell for everything you’ve done. First murdering your wife, then leaving Alice to live in the streets, and then abusing her, and now murdering innocent children. What’s next,  _ Paul _ ?” They spat the name out as if it was poison.

“You could have just left it to me dropping the charges,” Paul ignored what they had said. “I’d get my daughter back, Sans wouldn’t have gone to prison for sure, and we wouldn’t be in this situation now. Doesn’t that sound so much better than this?” Paul tilted his head as he dropped the thing in his arms. Chara realized what it was as they heard it smack against the ground.

“How the  _ fuck _ did you get Mila!?” Chara gasped.

“Easy. It’s fairly easy to get into your house. Or so I’ve heard.” He kicked the unconscious goat child out of the way. Chara felt their heart drop at seeing the small child kicked around like a potato sack. “Now, back to what we were saying. Doesn’t that sound so much better than this?” Alice gulped and looked back at Chara, trying to figure out what they were going to say.

“I’m not letting you have Alice. She is  _ not _ your child. Alice is a sweet, kind child who doesn’t deserve any of the shit you gave her.” Chara looked at Asriel, who had taken several steps back. “Besides, I don’t trust you. Not one bit.”

“Well,” Paul chuckled, his voice taking a darker, corrupted tone. “That’s just too fucking bad.” He turned back to Asriel. “What the fuck do  _ you _ think you’re doing? I don’t care if I have to dust you, I’m gonna make sure it’s fucking painful.” Paul grabbed Asriel’s paw hard enough to make him cry out in pain as Paul took his knife and stabbed him in the head. Hard. 

Chara gaped in horror. Asriel was sobbing when he took it out and tied him up tightly, making sure his paws were tied together. Asriel looked up at him through his tears while Chara checked his stats.

 

ASRIEL LV 1 10/50 HP

 

**_He’s not gonna die, but he’s horribly injured. That’s gona leave a scar._ ** Chara felt even more anger rise up in them as they struggled to get loose. 

Paul had NO right to hurt their friends- no, their  _ family _ like this.

“Suck it up.” Paul walked over to Alice to untie her. She immediately ran over to the other side of the room, tripping and falling in her hurry as she ran to the door as fast as she could.She tried to jiggle the doorknob, only to find that it was locked. Chara noticed that her eyes were glazed over in fear as tears started to fall down her face. Paul walked over, a creepy smile on his face. “Now, Alice, you aren’t trying to escape punishment, are you?”

“N-no…” Alice shook as she let go of the doorknob and took more steps backward, not keeping her eyes off of Paul. He walked closer, backing her into the wall.

“Because, if you recall correctly, you broke several rules.” Paul chuckled, his eye twitching. “AND THAT’S PUNISHMENT-WORTHY!” He yelled the last part as he grabbed Alice by the collar of her sweater. She flinched, and struggled to get out of her sweater as Paul tried to bring her over to the bathtub, roughly dragging her along the ground as her sweater dug into the back of her neck.

“NO! NO NO NO NO NO!” Alice screamed as she continued to struggle out of her shirt, until the sweater slipped off and she fell out. She wore a tank top underneath, which exposed her arms.

And the bloody white gauze that was wrapped around them. She attempted to crawl off back towards the door, Chara, anyone, only to be grabbed by the foot by Paul.

“Did you really think you could get away like that? You fucking bitch.” Paul laughed, dragging over the girl, screaming and crying and begging to be let go, to spare her from the water.

“P-p-please…” Alice sobbed, grasping at the ground, the rope, anything to keep her from  being thrown into the bathtub. Paul roughly forced her, tugging at her petite body until the ground scraped her skin, leaving marks. Eventually, he got tired of dragging her and just picked her up to throw her into the bathtub, the water splashing up as she fell in.

Alice screamed in terror, freezing up and going into a ball. 

“Stop! She’s obviously scared!” Alex yelled while Chara suddenly got REALLY hot with anger.

How fucking dare he do this. 

He had NO right to do this to anyone. And nothing would excuse him anymore.

“Does it look like I care?” Paul chuckled unstably. “Shut the fuck up.” He turned back to the girl, only to stop as a bright red knife flew past him. Chuckling again, he turned back to Chara, who had managed to get out of the rope and had armed themselves with knives made out of pure magic.

“Well, what do we have here? You’re up for a battle?” Paul pulled out a knife of his own. “Well, count me in. I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, ever since I got sentenced!” Paul suddenly, advanced, brandishing the knife and heading to stab Chara. Chara dodged and threw a knife of their own, it missing and hitting the wall. Paul laughed, and headed to stab them again.

Miss.

“Heh, do you even know what it’s like to take a life? I’m sure you do.” Paul taunted. Chara gritted their teeth and continued trying to focus on throwing the knives, but missing, nearly hitting Asriel and managing to hit the bathtub. Alice yelped when the knife hit the tub.

“I mean, after all,” Paul got really close to Chara. “We’re one and the same.” Chara growled at him and tried to stab him, but he cut their arm and moved back out of the way before they could.

“You’re just as sadistic and demented as I am. After all, we’re not as different as we seem.” Paul smirked.

“What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?” Chara demanded.

“What the fuck do you think it means?” Paul dodged more knives. Chara started thinking.

**_We’re similar? No. Paul is much more sick in the head than I am._ **

“After all, you almost killed that kid.”

“Don’t bring that up.” Chara snapped and threw another knife, which somehow, Paul deflected. Chara dodged back, staring at him in shock.

“You know, prison does things to you. I figured out how to deflect magic.” Paul held up an arm cuff made of some sort of shining metal. Chara’s heart fell.

**_I’ve got to be even more careful. I don’t want to hurt any of my friends. I don’t even know what red magic does._ **

“Anyways, I’m shocked that you guys managed to figure out what I did. I made sure that the kids w-I kidnapped all had Alice’s name, in the order kidnapped.” Paul corrected himself as he deflected more of Chara’s knives. “I knew that if Sans thought you were the killer, he would do something to drive you out. So I took your necklace out of your room.”

“How did you even get in my room?” Chara demanded, panting. They had never used this much magic.

“Oh, it’s easy. Just through the window. Didn’t even need to break it.” Paul tilted his head and smirked evilly. 

“You’re terrible.” Chara growled.

“Oh, believe me. I know.” Paul replied.

“No, you’re a waste of space. The world would be much better without you.” Chara growled and threw a knife at him. He dodged.

“There’s one major difference between you and me, Chara. Do you know what that is?” Paul asked. “I’m willing and able to kill. I’m strong enough to kill to reach my goals. After tonight, everything will have been worth it.”

“Your goal?” Chara asked. “Was your goal this entire time just to kill someone?”

“Of course.” Paul laughed. “It’s a shame. I was planning on waiting for a few years. But to be honest, I’ve been looking forward to hearing you scream in pain until the light in your eyes go out.” He directed the last part to Alice, who was still shaking in the bathtub, her clothes drenched with water and sticking to her skin, making her shiver even more with the cold.

“You monster.” Chara snapped as they threw one more, but they were starting to feel even more tired. They fell to their knees as Paul hung over them. They looked up at him as they realized one thing.

**_He was counting on this! He was trying to tire me out!_ **

“You know, I was planning on making her suffer first. But hey, I’ll take any one I can.” And without another word, he threw the knife.

And it hit exactly where he wanted it to: Frisk’s stomach. The blow woke them up, their eyes wide as blood dripped from around the wound, which also caused Chara to feel horrible pain in their stomach. It was worse than any cramp, any little pain they had felt. The fell the ground, shocked by the sudden pain as they slowly started to feel the use of their limbs disappear as the blood slowly oozed out of Frisk.

**_Was this what Alphys meant when she said I should be losing the use of my limbs much faster?_ ** They wondered through the pain.

Frisk was panting in pain as tears dripped around their eyes. Chara looked up through their own tear-filled eyes at Paul, who had started laughing at the sight of Chara curled up in pain, staring in horror as the child they relied on to live died in front of them.

“This is even more fun than torturing those kids,” He sneered. “But unfortunately, if I want to continue, I need to do something. It’s quite a shame,” He added, lifting a knife. “You could have been  _ so _ useful. But I’ll get more use out of you dead!”

And with that, he brought the knife across Chara’s throat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays to everyone!
> 
> So, here's the deal. I don't know if any of you know this, but I celebrate Hanukkah instead of Christmas. So, for the next 8 days of Hanukkah, I will update every day.
> 
> That is my present to you guys :)
> 
> See you tomorrow!
> 
> ~Skater


	67. Hmm...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmm...

Chapter 67

 

Linda yelped at the sight of the dead body. Sans’ eyes went dark.

“That’s Liliane!” He realized.

**_Prison must have made Paul even more unhinged. To kill an officer?_ **

“What do we do?” Linda asked, fear in her eyes. “We shouldn’t have come here.”

“No. I think this is where we’re supposed to be.” Sans disagreed. “We found another dead body. That means the killer should have gone through here. Look!”

Sans illuminated a trail of blood heading through a thin path in the trees. He headed over, making it partly through when he realized that Linda wasn’t following him. He turned back and saw through the darkness that the woman was standing over the body of Liliane.

“Come on!” Linda flinched and started following Sans again.

* * *

“Who’s Liliane?” Linda asked.

“Long story.” Sans sighed. He didn’t really want to get into everything.

“We’ve clearly got time.” Linda scoffed. “If I’m stuck with you, I may as well get to know you more.” Sans rolled his eyes at her tone.

**_It’s true. Even though we don’t like each other, we still don’t know_ ** **that** **_much about each other._ **

“Well, that was the head officer. Before Frisk came with us, that was their biological mother.”

“Really?” Linda paused in surprise. “Why did sh-they go to you guys?”

“Liliane was using Quiet Hands on them. You know, the thing I’ve been telling you not to do to them?” Sans looked at her and then looked back forward. “They ran to Mount Ebott and fell Underground. They were the 8th Human to fall. The first was Chara.”

“Wait, Chara? Your Chara?” Linda was clearly confused.

“Like I said, long story.” Sadness stabbed him like a knife. “They fell Underground 15 years ago.”

“But Chara’s only 11.”

“Technically, they’re dead.” Linda’s face fell in shock. She hadn’t been expecting that answer. “They killed themselves trying to get revenge on humans. Monsters can absorb human Souls and become even more powerful. They killed themselves to try to attempt that. But the monster they chose wasn’t exactly willing to do that. The monster wound up dying.” Come to think of it, why hadn’t he ever questioned why they wanted revenge so badly?

“That’s...how did they come back to life?”

“Through Frisk. When Frisk fell, they shared a Soul.” Sans explained. “Stuff happened, and they wound up coming back to life this November. I separated them, and that was when Chara started going to school with Frisk.”

“So, they’re dead. Is that why they’re so angry?” Linda asked.

“I think they have anger issues because of what happened with their stepmother.  They never told me what happened. I wouldn’t…” Sans sighed. “I wouldn’t have yelled at them like I did. I…”

“Can’t change what happened,” Linda said suddenly. “You can only focus on what happens in the future.”

“You’re right.” Sans straightened his back a bit. “This really turned into ‘venting time’, huh?” Linda chuckled a bit at that. “yeah.”

**_I’ve had a lot on my mind, what with Dad and Chara and Mila and everything._ **

“You know, Mila went missing today.”

“Your daughter?” Linda gasped.

“Yep. Window broken, room a mess. Someone kidnapped her.” Sans sighed. “That’s why Tori’s not here. She stayed at the house to stay for the police.” His eyes went dark as he felt tears pool up in his eyes.

“Sans, I’m so sorry.” Linda burst out. “For everything. For all the shit I’ve given your family. I...I’ve been so terrible to you and your kids.”

Sans paused. “Thank you for apologizing. Doesn’t change what you did. But...thank you.” The two walked on in silence.

* * *

“Look at this place.” Linda said as the two walked out of the forest. They had reached a small, desolate neighborhood.

“Where are we?” Sans asked, looking at the broken sign that said through faded words,  _ Mockingbird Ln _ .

“I kinda remember this place. I first lived here when I moved away from Texas.” Linda commented.

“Really?” Sans looked around. It didn’t seem like that nice of a neighborhood.

“Couldn’t afford a better place.” Linda shrugged. “I mean, California’s pretty expensive.”

“True.” Sans agreed. He looked around at the destruction of the place.

**_What exactly happened here?_ ** There were crumbling buildings, broken signs, broken windows, and graffiti.

“It was nothing like this when I lived here. It was what, 15 years ago?” Linda asked to no one in particular. “I remember there was a huge scandal because someone murdered their kid.”

“Wait, what?” Sans paused.

“Yeah, she went to prison for it, obviously. I don’t know how long, but she did.”

“Well, that’s good.” 

“Definitely. There was a lot going on with that family, too. I think the mom had some issues.”

“Yikes.” Sans winced.  “Well, we gotta look for the kids.”

“Definitely. Let’s try to find them.” Linda walked forward.

* * *

“This is the house I was telling you about. Where that lady who killed her kid lived.” Linda said.

“Well, let’s check it out.” Sans walked up to the door and found it was open. “It’s open.”

“Let’s go in, then.” Linda pushed the door open and pushed past Sans. 

The house itself was surprisingly in good shape. The walls were empty of pictures, the rooms filled with furniture, not a single piece out of place. The carpet was cream with tan walls, and the furniture was a lighter tan. In each room he walked into, it was as if he walked into an Ikea- not a single thing out of place. 

It was rather creepy, in all honesty.

“Is someone else here?” Linda wondered.

“I think so.” Sans nodded. “I doubt they’re here now, I don’t hear anyone, but we should be careful just in case. Stay together. You know?”

“Gotcha.” Linda looked up and climbed the stairs.

“Linda!” Sans groaned. “What did I JUST say?” He sighed and went to check his phone. No texts from anyone.

He decided to text Toriel.

* * *

Sans: tori? are the police there?

Toriel: Yes, the police are here.

Sans: thank asgore. anything?

Toriel: Nothing, unfortunately.

* * *

Sans frowned. He had an odd feeling that his kids and Mila were connected.

* * *

Sans: they gotta find something.

Toriel: I hope so. Anything on the kids?

Sans: we found a lead. unfortunately, we found a dead body. wasn’t one of the kids though.

Toriel: Who was it?

Sans: liliane.

Toriel: WHAT??

* * *

“Sans!” Sans shot up at Linda’s call.

* * *

Sans: sorry tori, I gtg. might’ve just found a lead.

* * *

He ran over to where Linda was, only to pause at the sight before him.

**_What is going on here…?_ **


	68. The Chapter In Which Everyone Realizes

Chapter 68

 

Alice had no idea what was going on. Everything was in a blur for her. All she knew was that she was sitting in something wet and cold, and that all around her was red. Her breath came in and out fast. Too fast. There was wet down her cheeks. What was that wet? What was it?

She had to get out of here. She desperately reached out to the thing in front of her to get out, and she fell out onto the...floor? She wasn’t quite sure. Her breath came in and out fast. She tried to calm herself. She couldn’t.

* * *

“What is this?” Sans asked, looking at the many papers filling the room.

“They look like plans of some sort.” Linda commented, picking up a paper. “Oh? This has your name on it.”

“What?” Sans grabbed the paper from Linda. He read over the document quickly.

“This...this is what happened when I was put on trial!”

* * *

Alice took a breath. She was able to slowly focus, slowly realize what was happening.

The dead body of two of her friends in front of her, her dad hovering over their corpses. She cried out in sadness, then slapped her hands over her mouth.

But, it was too late. Paul turned to her, a horrid, joker-esque smile on his face. She gulped as he walked towards her.

“Leave her alone!” Alex yelled out, seeing how petrified Alice was.

“Shut the fuck up, tranny.” Paul threw the knife. It smacked against her back, hitting her in the upper back. She looked shocked, but not like she was in any pain. Alice watched the blood spill out of her wound around the knife.

“H-how did you know?” Alex demanded.

“Kinda obvious. Besides, I have sources on the inside.” Paul chuckled darkly.

* * *

“What?” Linda looked at it over Sans’ shoulder.

“Right here! It talks about distracting me, then aggravating me so that I take out my blasters...everything that happened!” Sans read.

**_Paul_ ** **has** **_to be behind this._ **

**_But...there’s one more issue._ **

“We have a slight issue now with this.” Sans realized. “If we were to take these at face value, then it’s clear that Paul’s the only one who could have done this. But, if we look a little deeper, I think there’s more people involved.”

“What?” Linda turned to Sans.

“Look at how detailed this is. It takes  _ everything _ into mind- from the plan itself to the time of day to the location. Even manages to find a time when I’m the only one in the house.” Sans looked up. “There has to be someone else involved in this.”

* * *

“Well, anyways, it’s time to get to business.” Paul reached for Alice.

But she had run out of the way already. Paul threw another knife, which hit Alice in the ankle. She screamed as she fell down. She hurriedly crawled as he approached her, but Paul overtook her and pulled her up by the collar of her shirt.

“Look at this. Look at how fucking  _ weak _ you are.” He grabbed at the bandages on her arms. They fell, revealing dozens of scars, uniform in length, along the insides of her arms. Alice struggled to try to free herself, but he suddenly shoved her against the wall.

“Why didn’t you just end your life, if you were so desperate to hurt yourself?” He spit in her face. Alice cringed, and stared him straight in the eyes.

* * *

“Look at all of these!” Linda grabbed a random other one. “This one is about how…” She suddenly looked very nauseated. “You read this.”

Sans looked over the paper. “This is dated over 15 years ago.” He read over it quickly.

“Whoever wrote this is sick in the head.” Linda growled angrily. “Whoever this is is a terrible person, who deserves to die.”

“I agree.” Sans’ eyes went dark. “I think this is even more proof that there are more people involved.”

* * *

“Why didn’t you just k-kill me, if you w-were so despe-erate to hurt me?” Alice shakily demanded. Paul growled and smacked her against the wall again.

“I believe I asked a question.” 

“I believe I a-asked one too.” The two glared at each other.

“What k-kind of f-f-father makes their child  _ want _ to kill th-themselves?” Alice asked. “Gotta be a s-shitty parent.”

“Damn right.” Paul smirked. 

“Why are you proud of t-that? What made you t-this way?” Alice desperately demanded.

“Chain of events.” Paul’s smile disappeared. “My father did this too. So did his father. You’ll do it too. Runs in the family.” He slammed her against the wall one more time. “It ends here. Right here, right now.”

**_No…_ **

* * *

**** “These are all plans for revenge and murder.” Sans was horrified at the writings.

“I can’t believe this.” Linda shook her head.

* * *

“No! I-I’m better than you!” Alice retorted, trying to get free. Paul took his knife and stabbed her leg, causing her to scream and struggle free.

“Stop!” Alex got free and ran up to him. 

“N-no, don’t!” Alice yelled. Paul simply knocked the girl down and let Alice fall to the ground with a grunt.

“I’ll show you.” He growled as he brandished the knife.

* * *

“Look at this one.” Sans picked up a plan that was on top of the desk. Oddly, it was in a folder rather than just a piece of paper.

“It has a title.” Linda noted. “‘Revenge’?”

“It’s the only one that has a name.” Sans frowned. “And it doesn’t have a date, either.”

“I think this one might be the one we need.” Linda took it from Sans. “Just look. It details everything that’s happened with this case so far.”

“It starts out with Paul getting released from prison, then the kids being kidnapped in order. It even has the kids’ names and pictures to kidnap and what order.” Sans realized.

**_Just like I thought, it was intentional to have them spell out Alice’s name._ **

“This is horrid.” Linda crossed her arms. “This is so terrible, yet it’s so well thought out. The second person isn’t even mentioned in this.”

“That’s true.”  **_Was that on purpose?_ **

“Then it goes to even make sure when exactly to kill the kids, and to take Chara’s necklace.”

* * *

“Eep!” Alex crawled away from Paul as best she could, hiding back near Asriel. 

“Get back here!” Paul grunted. “Well, if I can’t kill you, I’ll just kill her!” He turned back to Alice, who was suddenly standing as tall as she could, staring up at him. “Huh? You’re not a scared little bitch now, are you? Huh?” He laughed and smacked her face, but she stood tall. Still laughing, he slapped her harder, hoping for her to fall.

Alice felt...what was this feeling? It was one she hadn’t felt for a long time. One that Paul had destroyed in her.

She took a breath. She knew now.

Alice was filled with DETERMINATION.

“You can’t make me f-fall.” She frowned at her shaking voice.

“You’ll do whatever the fuck I want you to. I’m still your father.” Paul sneered. Alice stared him straight in the eyes, suddenly empty of fear as DETERMINATION filled her from head to toe.

“You’re no father of mine.” Alice said simply as she looked him in the eyes. “If I d-die here and now, to you, I am no longer your daughter.”

* * *

“It has everything that happens in this case right here. Even where the kids are!” Sans jumped up. “They’re in the basement!”

“We should probably call the police. We might need backup.” But Linda was already down the stairs as she yelled that over her shoulder.

* * *

“Well,” Paul chuckled as he raised the knife. “That’s good to know.” 

Alice shut her eyes as she awaited the knife to fall.

* * *

“Where’s the basement!?” Linda yelled, running around.

“Linda, I’m trying to call the cops to go here!” Sans warned her.

* * *

...It never came. Alice opened one eye to see a black and white Paul still standing over her, his face overcome with shock and pain rather than the cockiness that it had just had.

And then she saw the bright red knife protruding from his chest. She saw his bright orange Soul separate from his body and shatter in front of her. And then she saw his body fall as the knife disappeared, revealing a horrified Chara behind him, blood rushing neverendingly from their throat. The room was full of silence as everyone had their eyes on Chara. Then, a cry rang out as Alice recalled that Paul had kidnapped Mila as well. The skele-goat was crying, tears rolling down her cheeks. Alice stood up, wincing at the pain in her foot, and recognising that she would probably be on crutches for a while. She limped over to comfort the baby, pulling Mila into her arms. Mila immediately continued crying despite Alice’s efforts to shush her.

**_It’s over. Everything with Paul, my whole family...it’s all over. Just like that._ ** Alice was in shock. 

She had always seen her father as a constant in her life. She had just assumed from a young age that he would always be there, controlling her, abusing her.

Him being gone made her sad yet happy at the same time.

“Chara?” Alice turned to her sibling, seeing that they were still standing, shocked. Mila reached out to Chara.

“Ca-a!” Mila reached out to them through her cries. As Alice got closer to Chara, the child stepped away from her.

“N-no...Get away from me!” Chara yelled out.

“Chara?”Asriel frowned, trying to give them a hug.

“Get...I’m no different…” Chara bit their nails.

Alice had NEVER seen them like this.

“Chara. Y-you’re much different from Paul,” Alice assured them.

“No! I...I’m just a filthy murderer. I’m a monster.” Were Chara’s last words before they passed out.

* * *

Sans: we found where the kids are.

Toriel: What???? Where?????

Sans: they’re in a basement in some random house on mockingbird ln

Toriel: Text me as soon as you rescue them.

Sans: i will.

* * *

“Sans!” Sans looked up at Linda’s yell. He ran to where it was, and found her next to a door.

“It’s right here.” Linda tried the knob and found that the door was unlocked.

“Let’s go in.” Sans opened up the basement.

He wasn’t prepared for what he found.

He saw Alice, in a tank top with self-harm scars all over her arms, holding a crying Mila. Frisk was lying on the floor, their breathing shallow, blood coming from their stomach. Alex had a knife in the back of her neck, although it didn’t seem to be affect her that much. To his surprise, he saw Asriel rather than Flowey, with a large scar on his head, near his eye. That eye was closed, and he had his paw over it.

“Sans!” Alice yelled out.

“Alice!” Sans ran to her and Mila.

“Chara passed out.” Alice said. “T-they saved my life. Paul would h-have killed me if they didn’t…”

“Chara? Where are they? What did they do?” Sans asked. He then looked to the side and realized.

The dead body of Paul was lying there, with Chara passed out not too far away from him. There was a stream of blood running from their neck.

**_Guess they can’t die...but Frisk can._ ** They looked over at Frisk, noting that **_the blood was coming out from their stomach slower, and their breathing was getting shallow._ ** He ran over to them and went to pick them up. 

“Don’t do that!” Linda yelled. “You’ll make them bleed out faster.” Sans stepped back.

**_We need an ambulance. Now._ ** Sans called 911 again and called for an ambulance.

“Alex! Baby, are you okay?” Linda ran to her child.

“I’m fine mom. Not injured.” Alex smiled sheepishly.

“Baby, there’s a knife in the back of your neck.”

“What?” Alex tried to reach for it and paled when she touched it.

“We need an ambulance.”

“Called one.” Sans walked over to Frisk.

**_Thank Asgore they’re still alive. I can see their health slowly drain._ **

 

FRISK LV 1 11/20 HP

 

FRISK LV 1 10/20 HP

 

FRISK LV 1 9/20 HP

 

“There’s something that Chara said right b-before they passed out.” Alice told him, interrupting him from watching Frisk’s health drain.

“What did they say?” Sans blinked.

“They said that they were a filthy murderer, and a monster.” Alice relayed Chara’s words to him. Sans was shocked.

**_I almost forgot, they went out to prove themselves to me._ ** His bones froze as he came to a realization.

**_This is all my fault._ **


	69. Dear Diary part one

Chapter 69

 

_ Date: 1/25/31 _

_ Dear Diary, _

_ Hmph. I feel stupid writing that. It makes me feel like I’m 5 again. _

_ Well, I feel as stupid as one, at the very least. A five year old, that is. _

_ I made my friends go on a dangerous journey to find a serial killer, I made Frisk see their dead mother, and I killed Alice’s father. And for what? _

_ To prove Sans that he was right? That I am a murderous monster? _

_...I woke up in the hospital. They had to get a monster specialist to operate on my neck, because human stitches kept breaking, apparently, from the blood flow. They had to stitch me up and rub some sort of monster stuff on my neck to make it heal faster.  _ _ Mom _ _ Toriel came in with Mila, crying because I was safe, because  _ _ Azzy _ _ Asriel’s back, because none of us died. _

_ But I may as well have. I can’t feel anything. Nothing at all. _

_ Frisk was rushed into emergency surgery as soon as we got to the hospital. They made it with just one HP remaining. They’re expected to recover smoothly.  _

_ Alice is on crutches for now. She has a boot for her ankle to make sure she doesn’t hurt it anymore than it already was, being stabbed. It’ll take a while, but she’ll recover as well. That’s what I heard the nurse saying. The nurse recommended that all five of us go into group therapy, and Alice into solo therapy as well. She said it’ll help us. _

_ Alex is fine. The knife didn’t hit any vital organ or anything, somehow. Out of all of us who were stabbed, minus Asriel, she made it out with the least injuries. It’s been a week since...the incident, and she only had to stay overnight to make sure that there were no other complications. _

_ Asriel made it out with just the scar. He didn’t even have to stay overnight. He did anyways, to stay with Frisk, Alice, and I along with Mila, Toriel, and Sans. _

_ Mila was taken in to make sure she didn’t have any damage from being thrown around by that guy. She didn’t. _

_ Frisk and I have to stay for a while longer to make sure we don’t have infection. _

_ Whatever. I don’t really care anymore. _

_ I...I messed up badly. I didn’t want to kill anyone, even if it was someone as terrible as him. _

 

_ 1/26/31 _

_ Alex came to visit today. She was wearing heavy makeup, heavier than she normally wears. She told me that she no longer cares what her mom says. _

_ Good for her. _

_ She told me what she wants to do when she's older. She wants to do makeup professionally. She asked me if she could do my makeup. _

_ I must say, she's not bad. Still needs work, especially on eyeliner. But she's better than I am. _

_ In many ways. _

_ She talked more about her transition. She got Jimmy to take her to target and grab some stuff to help with her dysphoria. _

_ I must say, he's definitely becoming a better person. Jimmy, I mean. _

 

_ 2/10/31 _

_ It’s been a while. I...I haven’t felt like writing. Or doing anything, really. _

_ I’m kind of glad that I don’t have to eat. Or sleep. Or anything. I haven’t done anything since I got released. _

_ Just stayed in my room. Did homework. Thought a lot. _

_ Mila comes in a lot. She keeps bringing me drawings that she does. They have  _ _ our  _ _ her family. And me. They’re cute drawings. _

_ She’s walking now. She doesn’t seem that affected by what happened. She can talk, but she signs and talks at the same time.  _

_ Frisk and Alice stay and chat a lot in the room. Frisk is teaching her sign language. _

_...Well, I’ve had some time to think. _

_ I...I don’t know what to do. Group therapy hasn’t helped much. I can’t bring myself to talk about anything. Just going keeps pushing me back into my memories. _

_ I don’t know what’s now and what’s then anymore. I keep seeing  _ her _ everywhere, even though she’s dead. I have hallucinations of blood, of stabbing, of murder over and over and over… _

_ No wonder I can’t sleep anymore. _

_ 2/18/31 _

_ I felt like writing again. Mom’s not letting Mila into my room anymore. I keep having magic flareups and shooting magic everywhere in the midst of a hallucination. I… _

_ I understand. I wouldn’t want a kid near me either. I’m dangerous. Unpredictable. _

_ A monster. _

_ Frisk and Alice talk mostly in sign around me now. I don’t bother to translate for myself. _

_ I don’t care. I can’t feel Frisk anymore. For all I know or care, we’ve been separated again. _

_....It’s probably better for them. They don’t have to feel my pain. They don’t have to know what I’m feeling. _

_ It’s not like anyone cares, anyways. Who would care about a fuck up like me? That’s all I do. I fuck up everything. I should have just let  _ her _ kill me. I should have just let Frisk reset without taking their Soul. I should have died long ago. _

_...I need to fix this. _

 

_ 3/1/31 _

_ I fucked up. Again. _

_ I just realized I missed Alice’s birthday on the 21st. I was wondering why she seemed sad when she came into the room that day. _

_ It’s probably the first actual birthday she’s ever had that she can remember. And I missed it. _

_...Oh well. _

_ I...I’ve been in a mood. I haven’t been able to make myself do anything at all. Not even schoolwork. I’m probably failing all my classes. Who cares? I don’t have much of a future anyways. I killed someone. That court case is still pending. Even if it’s in defense of others, it still basically ruins my life. _

_ That is, it ruins it more than it already is ruined. _


	70. Dear Diary part two

Chapter 70

_4/25/31_

_It's been a while, hasn't it?_

_I've been forgetting to write. Probably not that good for my brain. To keep all these...terrible thoughts...in my head._

_Oh well. It's not like I care anymore. I mean, who does, anymore?_

_No one comes to visit me._

_Alice is barely off of crutches. Frisk is still on bedrest. They're both in different rooms because of my flare-ups._

_Sans hasn't looked at me once since the incident. I don't blame him._

_Mila isn't allowed to visit me. Too dangerous. Asriel for the same reason._

_Toriel's the only one who sees me now. I'm sure that the others, like Alex or Papyrus or Mettaton have not tried to visit me. It doesn't matter, Toriel won't let them near me._

_I'm...kinda glad. I don't want anyone to see me like this._

_The court case came and went. The court ruled it as in defense of others._

_I haven't eaten in months. Toriel's starting to worry more than she has before. She says I'm getting too skinny._

_I haven't been able to look at myself since the incident, except for a couple of seconds to check my HP. I wouldn't know._

_She also worries about my health. She says I have huge bags under my eyes._

_My health doesn't matter. I can't die._

_...Or can I?_

_5/31/31_

_After another month of testing, I've discovered that I cannot die._

_My weight has gone down by about 75 pounds. I haven't slept in months. I don't drink water. Nothing._

_Not even my HP has gone down. I'm looking in the mirror as I write this. Still 99/99 HP._

_Although, it's odd. After...the incident...my LV went up by 40. So I'm LV 60 now. But my HP hasn't gone up or down one bit._

_Although, maybe Toriel's right. I'm not nearly as curvy as I used to be. I'm very underweight, and the rest of my body seems to be affected by my weight loss._

_...Yet, I can't bring myself to do anything whatsoever about it. No matter how much Toriel worries. No one else cares. Not that I expected them to._

_I...I've given up on having people who care._

_I don't deserve it. I don't deserve to live at all._

_7/28/31_

_I've made a decision._

_I don't know how well this will work, but I hope it will._

_I'm going to write out my note tomorrow, and leave. Midday. When Toriel's at school. No one else comes in, I'll be gone before anyone can stop me._

_7/29/31_

_It's noon._

_Nobody's home. They're all at school._

_Now's the time._

_I'm just gonna write a note._

_Toriel, don't worry about me. I'm glad that you've been helping me. I appreciate it. I really do. I consider you my mother. But..I don't deserve to call you that. You've been so good to me and I love you for it. I...I don't deserve someone as amazing as you in my life._

_Sans, you were right. I'm nothing but a monster. But hey, the world will be rid of someone like me. Thank you for opening my eyes to how terrible I am. And thank you for working with me and my magic. I do appreciate it._

_Frisk, you're an amazing sibling. An amazing person in general. Don't ever change, okay? I love you as a sibling._

_You too, Alice. You're amazing, beautiful, and I hope you have a better life from here on out. You had to fight it out for most of your life, but that's what makes you so strong and so amazing. I can't handle it, you can just tell by this note._

_Alex, you're an amazing, beautiful person, and I just know that you're going to be so happy one day. You're not super happy at the moment, I know, but it will get better! I have faith!_

_Mila, I hope you grow up knowing the good side of me, not this side that you've seen over the past few months. I hope that Toriel teaches you about how to not wind up like me. Not to wind up messed up in the head like me. You'll grow up in a happy home, with a family who loves you. I know you will. I hope you never have to face the dangers that I have._

_To others, Papyrus, Mettaton, Undyne, Alphys, ~~Dad~~ Asgore, I'll miss you all. You've all been so great to me, and I don't deserve it. Thank you all so much._

_Asriel, you're a brother to me. I'm going to miss you so much, even though I haven't seen you since the incident._

_Although,I don't think this note matters._

_After all, I'm going to the one place where I know for sure it can destroy anything;_

_The core._

* * *

 

Chara wrote down the last word and took one last look in the mirror.

Their clothes were much too big for them, their usual curves gone. Their skin looked gaunt, their hair was dry, thin, and dull.

They knew they needed to eat. And yet…

They hadn't died not eating. They weren't sure if they could make themselves eat. They shook their head.

They needed to leave.

And without another thought stopping them, they opened the window and left.

Chara made it Mt. Ebbot. The situation was oddly familiar, and as they looked down, they could still see the cuts and blood from when they had…

...Chara refused to recall the memories. They walked up, finding the same branch, and knowing that the Underground was not far away. Before they knew it, they found the hole into the mountain. Without a second thought, they were falling, the buttercups providing a cushion.

Not that they needed it. They couldn't die. Not yet. They got up, feeling a pain in their arm. They looked down at it and saw blood everywhere.

**_I must have broken it...That explains the pain. Meh. Doesn't matter to me._ **

They walked through the Ruins, completing the puzzles ahead of them. They solved them without a second thought, recalling all the times watching others complete the puzzles with the kids they had shared a Soul with. Before they knew it, they had reached Snowdin, the cold of the place smacking them in the face.

They were going to miss everything, miss everyone. But the world was better off without a monster like them. They walked off to the side and found the boat person.

"Tra la la...where shall it be?" They asked. Chara signed to go to Hotland.

"Hop on...tra la la." Chara hopped on and let the person boat them to Hotland. They hopped off as soon as they got there without another word to the boatperson and headed to the Core. As they stood over the barrier, they took a breath.

And let all the memories of the months before the incident flowed through them. Dunking Linda. Befriending Alice. Helping Frisk. Helping Alex. Everything, every little moment, from Mila's birth to small acts of revenge, the moment they got Flowey to yell 'Hail Satan' at Linda, their little game with Alex to see who could get revenge on Linda the most, all of it flowed through their head as the climbed onto the barrier between the bridge and the Core.

Breathe in, breathe out. They closed their eyes, feeling their eyes tear up at the happy memories.

_**I'm ready to leave this world. The world is better off without someone like me.** _

They took a step off the barrier and let themselves fall...


	71. Confessions of the abused part 4

Chapter 71

...Over the barrier. Falling and falling, feeling the wind whip their hair and clothes and broken arm. They closed their eyes.

**_It's time to end this._** They waited. It was a long fall.

**_...Is this really what I want?_** They wondered. Their eyes opened, and then stared down at the magical lava below.

**_I want my life to be fixed. This is the only way._** They told themselves. But, they couldn't make themselves believe it.

**_No. It's not._** They realized. **_Dying won't make me happy. It'll make everyone else sad. And no one else will know that I died._** Panic mode started. They grasped at the air, anything to try to keep themselves from falling.

**_Oh Asgore. Oh dear. No. No._ **

"NO!" They screamed out loud, trying to keep themselves from falling. Their teleportation still wasn't working. None of their magic was. "I don't want to die! Please! Anyone! HELP ME!" They called for help.

The next few moments went fast. Something slammed into them, hard. Grabbed them tightly.

**_What?_ **

"Hold on, kiddo," The thing said.

**_Sans?_ **

They were falling, falling, closer to the lava.

**_Oh no, we're both gonna die._ **

Sans opened up a portal, just as they fell through it. The two went through the warp and landed on Chara's bed. Chara jumped out of Sans' arms and crawled up to the wall, crossing their arms and staring at Sans in shock.

**_He just saved my life..._ **

"Kid...what the fuck are you thinking?" Sans demanded, his eyes dark. "You scared the shit out of me! I get back from giving Alice and Frisk lunch, and I find this." Sans held up the diary, open to the suicide note. Chara pursed their lips and looked down. Sans used a finger to pull their head back up to look at him. His eyes were normal again, and they could see tears coming out of them.

"Kiddo, you scared me. I...I never thought this would happen. What exactly happened?" Chara heard the pain in Sans' voice. "This is more than just what happened with Paul, right? Even though you got off with pleading defense of others. It's more than just that." They tensed. He was right on the money. They moved away from him, curling up into a ball next to the wall.

They didn't want to talk about it. They weren't sure it would help them at all.

"Chara, please." Sans begged. "Please. I want to help you. I...I see you like my own child. I can't bear to see you so depressed and angry. Please tell me. Please." Chara felt tears start to fall down their own cheeks.

"S-Sans, I…" They lunged forward and hugged him tightly, surprising the skeleton before he hugged back just as tightly. "I'm so sorry. I...I should have told you."

"It's fine. Just tell me now. Please." Sans said.

"It's...a long story." Chara warned.

"We've got time." Sans said, getting more comfortable.

"Alright," Chara took a breath. "It all started when I was 3. My mommy- my biological mom, that is- died when I was really little. My daddy used to always take me out to ice cream and spoil me. One day, he told me he was going to remarry a woman named Meredith. I had a lot of trouble pronouncing certain letters back then. The day she met me, as soon as he stepped out, she started snapping at me for mispronouncing words." Chara played with their hands a bit. They paused and took a breath before continuing on.

"I soon started pronouncing them correctly. She would snap at me for other offenses, like if I fell down. She expected perfection from a 3 year old, and I couldn't give it to her. One day, Daddy told me they were expecting a baby. I was hoping for a little sister. but, one day, they miscarried. Daddy told me they lost the baby." Chara hesitated. They hadn't even been able to mention the next part with Alice. Well, Alice wouldn't have known what it was anyways, but still…

"Shortly after, Meredith called the cops on Daddy. She was crying horribly, talking about something. As soon as she hung up, she stopped. I remember being so incredibly confused, but she told me it was adult matters and none of my business. The next morning, I woke up, and the cops came and arrested Daddy. I was only 4, so they couldn't tell me exactly what had happened, but now that I'm older, I know exactly what had happened." Chara took a breath. "Meredith accused Daddy of raping her. It's false, obviously, but he went to jail for it anyways." They paused after that sentence to gage San' reaction. They heard him mutter something about a paper. His eyes were dark again with anger. Chara continued on.

"That evening, I ran out of the house in my nightgown to say goodbye to Daddy. The police let me hug him bye before they took him away." Chara frowned and took another breath before starting the next part.

"I got caught by Meredith for going out in my nightgown and not a dress. She scolded me for doing so and decided to punish me for breaking a rule. She...she grabbed a knife and forced me to cut myself." Chara shuddered at the memory. "I still remember h-how painful it was...just like a sharp pain, over and over and over…"

"Afterwards, she usually left me to take care of myself. and then at some point later, she would apologise and try to get me to think that she changed…"

"Another time, she made me put my arm on a counter and then she shoved my shoulder down as hard as she could. It wound up dislocating that arm." Once they had started, they couldn't stop. "She broke my arm. She hurt me, she forced me to conform to strict gender roles, and hurt me horribly if I didn't. She made me not want to be a girl. She made me who I am. She hurt me horribly. I hate her, I hate her, I hate her so much!" They had started crying at some point during their rant, and they now put their head into their hands.

* * *

Sans didn't know what to say.

He had had zero idea at all that they were so torn up inside, so incredibly hurt by what Meredith had done to them.

"What else happened?" He asked. "Did you run away?" Chara wiped the tears from their face and nodded.

"I had an adopted brother. Johnathan. He was a year older than me. He was mute. Meredith had us all take sign language classes. But other than that, I wasn't allowed to learn. I taught myself how to read and write." Chara explained. "Well, I had a diary. I wrote in it all the time. I snuck out a lot. I loved the freedom. One day, I was dressed up in my room. I remember putting on a bow and thinking, 'Maybe monsters won't hit you as hard if you look cute?'." Chara gulped visibly. "And then, Meredith burst in. She…" Chara seemed to find themselves unable to talk all of a sudden.

"What did she do?" Sans asked.

"I…" They gulped again, more tears falling down their face. Sans sighed.

"It's fine, Chara." He hugged them again. "I wish you had told me earlier. I would have been more than willing to help you before you got to this place. I'll tell you what," He broke the hug as Chara looked at him. "I noticed that you wrote about how group therapy wasn't helping. How about we put you in individual therapy, like what Alice does?" Chara nodded.

"T-that would be good." They agreed. "T-thank you so much, Dad."

Sans was surprised that they called him dad. He chuckled.

"You're welcome, kiddo. You're very welcome," He looked at their broken arm. "What happened?"

"Oh, it broke when I fell." Chara explained.

"How about we go see Alphys and get it fixed? I know you have your issues with food." Sans suggested. Chara nodded.

"Let's go."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you really think I was gonna end this on that note? I'm mean, but not that mean.
> 
> See you guys tomorrow!
> 
> ~Skater


	72. Alphys Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara, Sans, and Mila visit Alphys to fix Chara's broken arm.

Chapter 72

"Sans? Chara?" Alphys opened the door, surprised. Chara was holding Mila's hand with their non-broken arm, and Sans had his hands in his pockets.

"Heya. We need a favor," Sans said. "Can you fix Chara's arm?"

"Can't you f-feed them monster food?"

"They won't eat it."

"Ok." Alphys sighed and walked off, leaving the door open for the three to walk started chattering.

"Whosat?" She asked, pointing at Alphys.

"That's Alphys. She's your aunt and doctor," Sans told her.

"Ife seen hew befow," Mila babbled.

"Yes, you have," Sans nodded.

"Alrighty, here you go." Alphys came into the living room with a bright green syringe. "Sit on t-the couch." Chara obeyed, letting go of Mila's hand to sit down. Sans frowned, recalling the last time he had seen a bright green syringe.

"Alphys, w-what is that?" Sans tensed. Alphys looked at him.

"Trust me. This one, we know the effects of. It's basically liquid green magic," Alphys assured him. Chara looked confused, and Mila just stared off and chewed her paw. "Chara, come here." Chara obeyed, scooting towards her. Alphys rolled up Chara's sleeve, revealing Chara's skinny, scarred, broken arm.

"Sheesh, n-no wonder it broke. You're all skin and bones." Alphys injected it into Chara's arm, and watched as the arm was instantly healed. "I'm surprised you didn't break your entire body. There you go," She added as it finished healing. "Say, what h-happened with those scars?" Chara looked down.

"They don't really want to talk about it." Sans started.

"No," Chara spoke up. "I'm fine with talking about it. It...sort of helps." They adjusted themselves on the chair as Mila jumped up next to them and cuddled into them. "Aww, Mila…"

"Would you like me to m-make you some hot cocoa?" Alphys offered. "And maybe some i-instant noodles?"

"Yes to the cocoa, no to the noodles. Thank you," Chara added as Alphys nodded.

"Is it ok if Mila has some too?" She asked Sans. He nodded.

"Yep. Can you make me some?"

"Ok." Alphys left.

"Dad," Chara sighed. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, kiddo." Sans sat down across from them.

"No, I mean, seriously." Chara shifted their weight, Mila grumbling as she had to move with them. "I...I realized as I as falling that that wasn't right. What was happening wasn't fair to everyone else. And besides, I share a Soul with Frisk. What'd happen to them if I died?" They shook their head. "I...I just couldn't think straight. But everything became clear as soon as I realized I was gonna die. I didn't want to leave everyone. So thank you for saving me."

"Wow," Sans frowned. "I...you're very welcome, Chara."

"I have a question, though."

"Shoot."

"Why didn't you just use your magic to manipulate my gravity up?" Chara asked. "It'd be easier."

"It would have, wouldn't it?" Sans agreed. "I...wasn't really thinking. I mean, I got there just in time to watch you fall off. I just kinda jumped after you and teleported to get to you. I wasn't thinking." He repeated. Chara nodded. The two waited in silence for Alphys to come back with the hot cocoa.

"So, w-what happened?" Alphys asked after giving the cocoa.

"Well...it all starts out when I was little." Chara started describing the tortures that their stepmother had put them through.

"And then, one day, I was in my room, getting ready. I remember putting a bow in my hair, and thinking that maybe monsters wouldn't hit as hard if I looked cute. And then…" Chara's voice drifted off. They started to try to get out the words, what she had done to them.

But, they couldn't. Again.

What's going on? Why can't I say that I was attacked and almost killed by her?

"Chara?"

They sat up, Mila moving away to stare at them.

"Chara." They looked right at Alphys. "It's fine. It was obviously t-terrible if you can't even talk about it." She turned to Sans. "They need to go to get help. Before they do something even worse."

"Oh, I already have." Chara said. Alphys looked at them in shock.

"They tried to jump into the Core."

"Chara!" Alphys yelped.

"Well, I didn't die, did I?" Chara retorted.

"Because I got to you first."

"Do you know h-how bad that would wind up for this timeline!?" Alphys snapped. "You have half of Frisk's Soul. You could- no, would cause a paradox and kill us all!"

"Oh, well I'm sorry for not knowing that!" Chara snapped. "I was just suicidal!" Alphys flinched.

"Right," She sighed. "Well, you know now."

"How would it cause one, exactly?" Chara asked. "A paradox, I mean."

"Well, what'd it mean is that you wouldn't kill yourself falling into the Core. What'd happen instead is that y-your physical body would be destroyed permanently. Your Soul would be destroyed as well."

_**My body can be hurt…?**_  Then, them not dying made sense.

_**That must be why I can drop 75 pounds without dying. And why I've survived so long without sleep.** _

"Doesn't that kill me?" Chara asked.

"Nope. N-not necessarily." Alphys shook her head. "Your Determination would keep you alive a-as a souless creature. Like how Flowey was."

"What'd happen next?"  
"Frisk would die as well."

"What?"

"The Core takes whole Souls. So instead of j-just taking your half a Soul, it'd look for the other half. And it'd erase both of you from this world. Permanently." Alphys took a breath. "Which would mean that we p-physically would not exist above ground, as the factor that caused all of us to become aboveground would be gone."

"So the both of us?" Chara realized.

"Exactly," Alphys nodded. "It'd cause a paradox, which would corrupt this timeline and kill everyone."

"Wow." Chara looked down at their drink.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel worse." Alphys realized. "Oh dear, I messed up again…" She frowned.

"It's fine, Alphys." Chara reassured her. "Thank you."

"But I just made everything worse!" Alphys ran off to the kitchen.

"Alphys!" Sans ran after her. Chara looked at Mila, who had been giggling under her breath.

_**Well, I guess this is a start to everything going back to normal.** _

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a surprise for you guys for tomorrow!  
> The chapter is almost 3000 words for the last night of Hanukkah!  
> I will see you guys tomorrow!
> 
> ~Skater


	73. Dear Diary part three

Chapter 73

_8/25/31_

_I must say, I'm in a much better state of mind than I was before._

_I don't know if I'm entirely out of it. But, I'm in a much better place than I was before. And that's what matters, doesn't it?_

_Anyways, so first off, Dad put me in solo therapy the day after I told him everything that happened with Meredith._

_(Side note, I've recovered so much that I can actually say her name now. I think it helps that I'll never see her again.)_

_I go everyday now. Sometimes twice a day. The therapist works with me. She's so patient. Her name is Jessica. She's pretty._

_I don't know how she handles hearing everything I've gone through, everything I've done. She's the one person who I've told everyone._

_I was a little hesitant to tell her at first. But she played board games with me, made me comfortable. Let me know that anything I said was okay to say. That first session ended with me not telling her anything yet, but I did trust her a bit more._

_The next session, we played more games. I think it was in the middle of chess that I first told her…_

* * *

"Check." Jessica smiled, moving her piece towards mine. I smirked, knowing my next piece.

"Not anymore." I laughed, moving my king to take her pawn.

"Darn it!" Jessica frowned. "Guess I have to do this now." She moved her queen and took my king. "Checkmate!"

"You trapped me!" Chara frowned, and then laughed. "It's just a game."

Just a game… Chara started laughing. "You know, it was like a game. The Underground."

"Really now?" Jessica asked.

"Yes. It had places for humans to Save and Reset. A...a lot happened Underground."

"Tell me about it. What happened?"

"Underground was so much better than above ground. I had my adopted family, Toriel, Asgore, and my adopted brother Asriel. I called him Azzy, though," Chara smiled at the memory.

"Azzy, huh? What was he like?"

* * *

_Before I knew it, I was telling her everything I knew about the Underground. How sweet everyone was, how happy I was there._

_How much I wanted to protect and free them._

_I left that session a bit happier to get things off my chest. That day, I wound up playing with Mila for a bit. She's walking and talking now. She reminds me of a tiny Azzy._

_Speaking of Azzy, looking back at my other entries, I don't think I mentioned him. He moved in with us now._

_He got to meet Mila for real._

* * *

"I don't know, do you think she'd want to meet me?" Asriel asked as he walked in the house.

"Of course." Chara said. "You're her brother."

"Right." Asriel sighed. "Alright. Let's meet her." Chara brought him to the living room, where Mila was babbling.

"Handy, wha do yew fink?" She mumbled, signing the words at the same time.

"Handy?" Asriel looked at Chara in confusion.

"Imaginary friend." They explained. "Well, come on! Do you want to meet her or not?"

"Yes. I do." Asriel stood up a bit straighter and walked towards Mila.

"Mila?" The skelegoat turned at his voice, and then tilted her head in confusion.

"Who aw yew?" Mila asked.

"I'm your brother. Well...stuff happened. But I'm alive again." Asriel started. "And-" He was interupted by Mila running up and teleporting to hug him.

"Browver." Mila smiled, hugging him tightly.

* * *

_Mila talks with Handy a lot. It almost seems like she gets advice from him. It's...odd. He seems to be giving her good advice so far. But then again…_

_Hey, that's my sister. Can't blame me for being protective. Azzy is too._

_Speaking of sisters, Alice and I made up. We're actually going to go get ice cream or something soon. I think Alice forgave me the most when I threw a surprise party to make up for missing her birthday._

* * *

"O-okay, why are you doing this?" Alice asked. Chara had had her put a blindfold on.

"It's a surprise." Chara said, pulling her into the kitchen.

"It's dark." Alice deadpanned.

"No kidding." Chara sat her down in the chair and took off the blindfold. "1, 2, 3."

"Surprise!" All of the monsters, Frisk, and Alex turned on the lights to yell to Alice. the girl jumped and looked around her in shock.

"Since I missed your birthday, I thought I'd throw a make-up one for you." Chara explained. Alice looked at them in surprise.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Alex commented as her, Asriel, and Frisk scooped her into a chair and then picked up said chair with Alice in it, who in turn blushed in embarrassment and covered her face. "Let's get some cake and presents up in here!" The three put down the chair at the table and Toriel produced a cake out of nowhere and put it in front of Alice.

"T-this was so kind of you, Chara." Alice smiled as Toriel cut the cake into pieces and started to hand out the pieces. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome." Chara smiled back as they put aside the plate Toriel gave them. "I hated that I...you know. I wanted to make it up to you."

"Oh, i-it's totally cool." Alice waved them off. "I mean, I understand." As they said that, Sans came up.

"Heya, kiddo." Sans hugged Alice. "Happy second birthday."

"YES, HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY HUMAN!" Papyrus dropped a present in front of Alice.

"Oh, t-thank you so much!" Alice smiled.

"Us too!" Undyne slam-dunked a present in front of Alice and an embarrassed Alphys.

"Undyne! You could h-have broken it." Alphys scolded her. Undyne picked it back up and shook it.

"Nope, it's good." Undyne set it down carefully this time, in front of the laughing Alice.

"Thank you." She said, awestruck by Alphys.

"Y-you're welcome, Alice." Alphys smiled nervously.

Alice and Chara hung out more during that party, along with Frisk and Alex. Chara saw that Alice was happy for the party, but something was...off.

Not too long after the party ended and everyone went home, Chara and Alice were hanging out upstairs.

"How was your second birthday?" Chara asked her.

"Oh, it w-was amazing!" Alice smiled. "I'm so happy that Alphys g-got me that advanced chemistry set!"

"I'm glad that you're happy." Chara told her. "But, it feels like there's something off. Is there something you wanted and didn't get?" Alice hesitated.

"Yeah...there k-kinda is." Alice admitted.

"What is it?"

"I really w-want to cut and dye my hair."

"Really?" Chara looked at her in surprise. Alice had gorgeous, silky, blonde hair that went down to her butt.

"Yes." Alice sat up. "I never had a haircut. N-not even once. I want it off."

"Alright, in that case, let's go." Chara stood up.

"Wait, w-what?" Alice frowned.

"We're going to get hair clippers and hair dye." They grabbed her hand. "Let's go and choose what color you want!"

Within seconds, they had teleported to the drugstore, Alice in hand.

"Alright, what would you like to dye your hair?" Chara asked.

"Um...wow, that's a l-lot of colors." Alice whistled. "Um, how about this?" She grabbed a pastel pink hair dye and a darker pink. "For roots and regular?"

"Okay." Chara nodded and took the boxes from her. "Now, let's grab…" They grabbed some haircutting scissors and went up to the register.

"That'll be $50.95." The lady reported. Chara paid using gold, which the lady looked at them in surprise.

"Thank you, have a nice day." They told the shocked lady as they grabbed Alice and left the store, before teleporting back home.

"Alright, let's do this." They grabbed a chair and set Alice in the bathroom, a carpet under the chair and a towel covering her. Taking the scissors, they held them to her hair. "How do you want this cut?"

"Bobbed." Alice told them. "Here, take this comb. I w-want a different bang too." Chara nodded and took the comb, and followed Alice's directions to trim her bangs. When they were done with her bangs, she had a slight lift to her hair rather than the side sweep that her hair had before.

"Okay, now bobbed?" Chara asked. Alice nodded.

"To here." Alice motioned to her shoulders. Chara took the scissors and grabbed the first lock of hair at the shoulder, and took a breath.

Snip.

One long, golden lock of hair fell to the ground. Then the next. And the next. Until, Alice's long, golden locks were short to her shoulders.

"Okay, how do you like that?" Chara asked.

"I love it." Alice smiled. "Now for dye."

"Heya." Both kids jumped at Sans' voice. "Whatcha up to?"

"Um…" Chara looked at Alice as she looked at them. "Alice wanted to cut her hair. And dye it."

"Dye it, huh?" Sans looked at her. "Well, in that case, let's get to dyeing it. I mean, you're only 12 once, right?"

And so, they spent the rest of the night dyeing Alice's hair. Once they were done, Alice's hair was pastel pink with darker roots, cut to her shoulders, and her smile was bigger than Chara had ever seen it.

"Thank you guys so much! Thank you!" Alice hugged both of them. Chara was startled a bit, but then hugged her back.

"You're very welcome." Chara allowed themselves a small smile.

* * *

_So Alice had a makeup birthday that was better than her actual birthday. I'm glad that she had fun that day._

_I...still have my struggles with eating. I'm not gonna lie. It's tough. Jessica and I started therapy to recover from anorexia. She told me that it's common to develop an eating disorder after trauma, and she's shocked that I didn't have one before, what with everything with Meredith._

_But, I'm eating now. That's good. I've gained weight back. Jessica tells me that that's good, but I don't know. I don't really like the change._

_At least mom and Dad aren't worried anymore._

_Frisk and I are on good terms again. And I can feel them again._

* * *

Chara was watching Frisk, Asriel, and Mila playing near the fireplace as they read a book. Frisk was able to sit up after their injury now, but they could still barely move. Chara watched them roll a small ball towards Mila, who shoved the ball back towards either of the two of them. Alice was playing with her chemistry set in the bathroom.

"Cawa!" They looked up at Mila's yelp of happiness, only to see a ball fly towards their face. Chara caught it with their magic and threw it back. Mila giggled and threw the ball at Frisk, who caught it. Frisk chuckled.

Not at my face, Mila. They signed. Mila looked at them, looked at the ball, and then smiled evilly and threw it at Asriel's face.

"Hey!" Asriel flinched as the ball smacked him in the head. Mila giggled at him and threw the ball again as it rolled back to her. She threw it again at him, laughing this time as he glared at her. Frisk frowned and reached for the ball, wincing in pain. Chara felt a pain as well in their stomach, as they dropped the book and winced in pain.

_**Wait...does this mean…?**  _They looked back up at Frisk, who smiled.

"I can feel you again!" Chara realized.

Yay! Frisk signed, smiling. Asriel took the ball from Mila, who pouted.

"No." Asriel scolded her. She whimpered and started sniffling. "No, don't cry! No! Don't- alright, here." Asriel sighed as he gave her back the ball. She immediately stopped crying and threw the ball at him again. He just sighed, giving up.

_**Mila's seems bent on throwing that ball…**  _Chara shook off any worries.  _ **She's just energetic. A lot of little kids laugh at weird things.**_

_**Right?** _

* * *

_Well, I think that's about all that's gone on. Alex went from wearing heavy makeup to wearing full on drag makeup. Linda seems like she's not saying anything about it, but I can tell she's not too happy about it. But Alex told me she doesn't care what Linda thinks anymore._

_Speaking of which, Linda's respecting Frisk and my pronouns now, which is great as far as I'm concerned. And at the PTA meetings, she's not being so bad._

_I think she broke it off with the principal as well. He's at the meetings now too, and started demanding that more teachers go. It's...interesting to say the least._

_Well, I'll write more later, but Alice wants to head out to get more hair dye. It's been about a month or so since we dyed her hair, so she needs to get it redone._

_I'll write in you later. Goodbye for now, diary._

* * *

Sans sighed, enjoying a cup of tea. These past few months had been so stressful, from worrying about the kids, to Mila's development, to Chara's suicide attempt, to having one kid on hospital rest and two in therapy. But now, it was all worth it, as he had seen the four- now five- kids flourish over the months.

It was so nice. And yet, some part of him missed it. It distracted him from his own, deep, dark memories that were constantly lurking in the back of his mind, the demons he fought tooth and nail to keep pushed down. Now, without much else to worry about, they were back to almost punch him in the face with the terrible memories.

"Tori, I'm so happy with how the kids have been." Sans announced to her.

"I am too. I'm so happy that we have all of them back and happy." Toriel smiled, pulling some chocolate chip cookies out of the oven as Chara and Alice came downstairs.

"Heya, kiddos." Sans greeted them, rustling Alice's pink hair.

"Hi Sans!" Chara smiled back, accepting a cookie from Toriel, who sighed in relief. A knock at the door interrupted the partial family. Sans got up.

"I'll get it." Sans walked through the hallway, smiling at Mila, who was playing with some building blocks and babbling to 'Handy'. As he opened the front door, he was greeted by a woman. He frowned.

"Can I help you?"

"Hello, it's nice to meet you, Comic Sans Dreemurr." The woman smiled, holding out a hand to shake his. She had tired looking, bright blue eyes and deep skin. Her hair was dyed an unnatural red, almost the shade of blood, and was done in long box braids that went down to her hips. She wore a tank top and leggings, and was a bit taller than Sans in height.

"Um, just Sans is fine." He frowned. "So, uh, whatcha need?"

"Oh, you have something of mine." The woman explained.

"I do?"

"Yep. Do you mind if I come in and grab it?" She tilted her hair and started playing with one of her braids.

"Sure, I guess." Sans allowed her to walk in, but she pushed past him to get into the house.

Something feels wrong here. He followed, watching her carefully. She stopped in the hallway, and looked at Mila. Mila looked up, paused, and burst out into tears, running into the kitchen.

_**Something's definitely wrong. Mila doesn't do that.** _

"Hm. Odd." The woman noted, and walked off again towards the kitchen. Sans scowled at her as she stopped again. She turned around.

"Are you not coming?" The woman asked. She chuckled, tossed her braids, and continued on. Sans teleported into the kitchen, his eyes dark with annoyance.

"Sans?" Toriel asked, holding a clearly upset Mila, and a confused looking Chara and Alice. "What's going on?"

"Someone's here. She says that we have something of hers." Sans turned around to see her. "So, what exactly did you need?"

"How rude." The woman crossed her arms and scoffed at the family. "You aren't going to introduce me? And can't you control your kid?" Toriel glared at her.

"My child is clearly distressed by something. Excuse me." Toriel left.

"What do you need?" Sans demanded. "You said I had something of yours. What is it?"

"It's her." The woman pointed at Chara.

"Chara?"

And then, it hit him and Chara at the same time. Chara visibly paled and took a step back.

_**It can't be…** _

"My, it's been a long time." The woman chuckled darkly. "Hasn't it, Charlotte?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> =)
> 
> So, I wanted to let you guys know a bit more about what is happening with the sequel, because I've been asked a couple of times.
> 
> I plan to finish writing this (I'm almost done) and write out a few chapters of the sequel before I post it.
> 
> All that I know for sure about the sequel is that it takes place 6 years after the finish of this story, and that the title will be either Little Game or Just a Game.
> 
> See you guys next year!
> 
> ~Skater


	74. Meredith...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meredith is back, despite everyone thinking she was dead.

Chapter 74

 

**_I can’t believe it._ ** Chara stared down Meredith. They had a sudden urge to run. To run away, as fast as their legs could carry them.  **_It’s her. She’s alive. And not in prison._ ** They started trembling. They felt it in their heart, their heartbeat that was rapidly getting faster.

“What? You’re not happy to see your stepmother?” Meredith asked innocently. As if she hadn’t done horrible things. Chara couldn’t say anything. Couldn’t do anything. They grabbed their arms, keeping their gaze down as they backed up. They suddenly smacked against the fridge and snapped their gaze back up. Meredith tilted her head and smiled sweetly at them, not noticing that they were trembling horribly, their breath was coming in haggardly... 

“Get out of my house,” Sans growled at her. His words echoed in their skull. 

**_Too loud._ ** They moved their hands to over their ears.  **_You’re being too loud. She doesn’t like that._ ** Meredith scoffed.

“Why should I? You have my kid.”   
“Chara is not your kid, they’re mine. They’ve lived with us for almost a year.” Sans retorted.

“Well, that’s not what her birth certificate says.” Meredith pulled the document out of nowhere. “According to her birth certificate, their father is Ace Breiner. And according to this marriage certificate, he is my legal husband.” Meredith took out another certificate. Chara felt an oncoming sense of dread as they realized where Meredith was going with this. “Therefore,  _ Charlotte _ is my legal child. And by keeping her, you can be convicted of kidnapping. Again. Multiple trials for the same crime?” Meredith tsked and shook her head. “They’re not likely to be lenient this time.” Chara slid down the fridge and sat on the cold tile, their horrified gaze facing downwards.

“Chara died. Therefore, that birth certificate no longer applies.” Sans retorted.

“Do you have a death certificate?”

“Nope, but-”

“Then it doesn’t matter. Charlotte never died in the eyes of the law unless she has a death certificate.” Meredith shrugged. “Sorry, boo.”

“Don’t ‘sorry, boo’ me,” Sans snapped. Alice flinched and moved closer to Chara. “I’m more of a parent than you ever were. Besides, they would never let a child abuser take custody.” Alice’s eyes flashed as she looked to Chara, sitting down next to them.

“A-are you okay?” She whispered to them. They nodded blankly, still keeping their gaze down. Alice frowned and looked back up at the two adults. Meredith seemed to be chuckling.

“Oh really?” Meredith paused in her chuckling and raised an eyebrow. “Who said I abused children?”

“They did,” Sans retorted, motioning to Chara.

“Charlotte? Of course she would,” Meredith sighed. “Look I may have been in a mental institution for 10 years, but I promise you, it wasn’t for child abuse.”

“Don’t lie to us,” Sans growled.

“I’m not. Look, here.” Meredith pulled out yet another paper. “‘This paper dictates that Meredith Breiner has been institutionalized until legally sane, along with 5 years in prison for the murder of her son, Jonathan Breiner,’” She read, and then folded it carefully and put it away. She crossed her arms and moved her weight to over her right hip, smirking at the skeleton, who was gaping.

“That’s…” Sans was at a loss for words.

**_Only 5 years in prison? For murder?_ **

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll be taking my daughter and leaving now.” Meredith grabbed Chara’s arm tightly and started to drag them off. As soon as Meredith touched Chara, they snapped.

“No! Let gO OF ME!” Chara yelled, struggling to get out of her grasp as their urge to run, their urge to panic, exploded.

“Chara!” They felt their Soul go cold and Meredith’s grasp disappear. Then they felt arms around them.

“Shh, i-it’s okay. Don’t panic.” They heard a small voice tell them. Chara flinched, and slapped at at whoever was holding them, hearing the sound of flesh hitting flesh. The person yelped in surprise and let go of them. 

Chara ran out of the room and ran into the living room, crashing into something furry. 

“Chara?” Chara ignored their name, and shoved the thing aside and sat down in front of the fire. They felt choked. They needed to get out. They got up, but were suddenly held down by something. They struggled to get free, and punched the thing as hard as they could. They didn’t even know what it was, all they knew was they had to run. They had to end this overwhelming feeling that prevented them from taking another breath, from thinking clearly.

“Whoa! Stop! Alice? What happened?”

“Their s-stepmother. That’s what.” 

“What did she do to them?”

“She just grabbed them by the arm.” A pause. “It must h-have been rough for them. For just that to…”

“It was rough. From what I remember.” 

Chara couldn’t even tell who was talking anymore. Their breath came in heavy, shallow breaths. They stopped punching the thing, and held their hands to their chest in pain.

“Get Toriel. She can help calm them down.” Someone walked away.

“Chara, are you okay? Can you hear me?” Chara couldn’t speak. Their anxiety was unbearable, leaving them panicked. They felt a lump forming in their throat as they started coughing.

There was a small knife, like one of their magical knives, stabbing their lungs with every short, labored, shallow breath they took. The crackling of the fire, the arguing and fight in the kitchen, it all echoed in their head. The woman in the kitchen, that monster…their mind was collapsing. The last thing before passing out that they felt was something running down their face.

* * *

“Look, I didn’t come here to argue,” Meredith sighed, looking into the living room where Chara was. “And I’m sorry that she’s upset.”

“Upset?” Sans glared at her from across the table. He slammed his hand on said table, making Meredith snap her attention to him. “You made them have a panic attack. That’s a might bit more than just ‘upset’, don’t you think?” Meredith frowned and leaned on the table across from Sans. She hesitated a bit at seeing how he was grinding his teeth, and how one of his eyes started to flicker between white and blue.

“Look. I honestly didn’t mean to hurt Charlotte,” She sighed. “I just want to help her. Show that I  _ have _ changed. I honestly have-”

“They go by Chara now,” Sans snapped, causing Meredith to flinch. “And they also go by gender neutral pronouns. You know, like they/them pronouns? Because of  _ you  _ and what  _ you _ put them through _. _ I don’t care if you’ve ‘changed’ now, you can’t erase what you did to them in the past.” Meredith frowned again. “You forced them to self harm as punishment, because they went outside in their nightgown to say goodbye to their  _ father _ , who was being arrested because of a false crime  _ you _ accused him of. Who the  _ fuck _ does that to anyone, let alone your  _ four year old stepkid _ ?” Sans spat. Meredith took the chair and looked down, and Sans saw her start to bite one of her long, fake nails. 

But Sans wasn’t done yet.

“You dislocated their arm. You made them even more uncomfortable with their gender than they already were. You did something so  _ fucking _ terrible to them, they can’t even  _ think _ about it without starting to panic, let alone talk about it. It’s so terrible, they haven’t told anyone about it. Hell, they tried to commit  _ suicide _ because of what you did. Don’t you care?” Sans shook his head violently, then raised his chin, glaring down at her. “Of course you fucking don’t. Everything here is your fault, and your fault only. I don’t care if you don’t consider it as child abuse- which, it  _ fucking is _ \- Because of what you did to them, Chara has every right to hate your guts. And, listen.” Sans used his magic to drag her across the table to face him straight in his eyes, which he darkened. He saw Meredith’s eyes dilate at the sight of one eye flickering blue.

“If you  _ ever _ hurt anyone in my family- I don’t care who-  _ you will regret it. _ ” He growled. Meredith gulped. Sans threw her Soul across the room as hard as he could, taking her with it. She gulped and sat up, straightening her shirt pulling her straps up.

“I...think I’ll be going now. I’ll be back.” Meredith warned as she dusted her pants off and headed for the door.

“If you know what’s best for you, you won’t,” Sans growled, his eyes going dark. Meredith cautiously walked out of the kitchen. Sans followed her.

“You don’t need to follow me. I’m a married woman, you know,” She commented over her shoulder.

“That’s not why I’m following you, and you know it,” Sans deadpanned.

“Fine.” Meredith walked down the hallway and opened the door, slamming it behind her. Sans watched through the window as she entered her car and drove off. He waited a few more minutes to make sure she was gone before running back to see how Chara was doing. When he got to the living room, his heart dropped at the sight before him.

Toriel was comforting an exhausted-looking Chara, who seemed to be just waking up. The pitiful-looking child’s eyes were puffy and red from crying, and they were pulling a fluffy grey blanket closer to them. Asriel was sitting next to them, and Frisk was sitting up a bit away from them, next to the mantle of the glowing fire.

“Sans? Can you get them some chocolate?” Sans was taken out of his thoughts by Toriel. He nodded and went back into the kitchen. He grabbed the chocolate from the fridge to give to the child. Chara frowned, looking at the food, and then to Toriel, then Sans, then back to the food.

“My child, regardless of how you feel about food, you need to eat something.” Toriel urged them. Chara sighed and reluctantly took the food. They opened the chocolate and took a bite, chewing slowly and trying to get used to the taste again. Alice came downstairs, holding a book, which she put down in front of the child.

“I know h-how much you like reading. I...I’ll be honest, I got this for your birthday.” She admitted. “But I thought now’d be a better time. It might distract you.” Chara nodded and signed  _ Thank you _ . Alice paused, uncomfortably fidgeting.

“Chara, do y-you want a hug?” Alice blurted out.. The child hesitated, then shook their head. Alice’s expression fell.

“Ok.” Alice nodded and sat down next to Chara as they looked at the book Alice had given them. Sans looked over his family once more with a worried expression on his face. Toriel had a murderous look on her face, and Sans had a feeling he was going to have to convince her to not go after Meredith.

**_Last thing we need is_ ** **another** **_court case on top of this custody case…_ ** He saw the helpless look on Frisk’s, Asriel’s, and Alice’s faces. He saw a calculating expression on Asriel’s face, and suspected he was going to have to convince Asriel as well not to attack Meredith.

**_This is terrible. There’s no other way to put it._ ** His eyes rested on Chara, who shoved their head into their hands.

“I thought she was dead.” They choked out, their voice shaking. “I honestly thought I’d never s-see her again…”

**_What’s going to happen from here on out…?_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo this story ends in 3 chapters.
> 
> I have one of them fully written, and the last two halfway done. I'll upload them one at a time every day once they're all done.  
> And then, i have some stuff to say about the sequel.  
> Don't worry, I'm still planning on going through with it, I just have to figure out what exactly I'm doing with it.
> 
> See you guys next time, and thank you so much for reading and all of your support over the past year!
> 
> ~Skater


	75. Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara writes about how Meredith in their diary, then they have an argument...

Chapter 75

 

_ 9/01/31 _

_ I’m...I have no idea how to describe the past week. _

_ So firstly, Meredith came back. I thought she was dead. I hoped she was dead. _

_ And to make things worse, she’s vying to gain custody of me again. The court date is tomorrow. _

_ But...I honestly just...I can’t describe what has happened. At the very least, let me try. _

* * *

Chara hesitated, their hands shaking as they held their blanket up to their chin. The air conditioner was set a little too cold for their tastes. Under normal circumstances they would have been perfectly fine, but given their weight loss and the stress they were under...

They changed their mindset to try to figure out how late it was. They turned to look at the clock.

It was late. Really late. Or, early, rather. The clock next to them said it was 2:23 in the morning.

But, they couldn’t sleep. Their high pulse and quick, short breaths worked together to keep them awake and to remind them of the fact that they had been wrong this entire time, that their stepmother was indeed alive, despite everything that had happened. Despite all of her crimes, despite everything she had done to ruin their life, she was allowed to run free. They clenched their fists around the blanket, throwing it off their bed, and gnawed their teeth as they quickly sat up.

Chara needed to do something. They needed to walk around. 

They rolled out of bed, making sure that Alice and Frisk were still asleep. They figured that considering it was still fairly warm out from summer, they were fine in just their shorts and t-shirt. Quickly leaving a note in case Sans or someone came in, they teleported outside. Shaking their head at the sudden change into the warmer temperature, they started walking. 

**_This is pretty nice. Not much going on outside._ ** They noted the cool wind blowing through their hair, blowing their shirt back and outlining their skinny body.

**_I’ve gained a little bit of weight back, but not much._ ** They still were at odds with gaining weight again. They didn’t want to go back to not being in control of their body. 

They didn’t want to go back to looking more feminine. They felt so much better having lost weight. Chara didn’t want that back.

Even if they were still unhealthy.

**_No, let’s not think about this right now._ ** Chara told themselves.  **_Just walk._ **

They took in their surroundings. California weather wasn’t too bad this time of year. The slight wind they felt was nice and warm, and the darkness caused beautiful, reaching shadows behind them.

The shadows almost seemed to be reaching for them. Chara blinked, realizing what they had just noted, and looked closer.

**_Wait a minute…_ **

They realized it entirely too late, just as a hand came up and grabbed them roughly by the back of their shirt. Immediately, they went to scream, but another hand covered their mouth, cutting them off. They bit as hard as they could, electing a laugh from their attacker. They struggled like a dog, kicking, biting, lashing out their arms, but the man grabbed them tightly by the arm.

“I couldn’t get you before.” Their blood went cold and they shivered as they recognized the voice. ‘But look at how lucky I am. Just to find you here, all by yourself.” Chara struggled as best they could, but the man had the advantage. He was keeping them still despite Chara’s best efforts. They felt a wave of panic rise up in them.

The world was ending for them. They were going to die, right here, right now.

All because of this man, who was going to drag them out somewhere, in the darkness, and do who knows what to them.

“Oh, don’t worry, dearie. Don’t worry at all. It’ll be fun.” He chuckled darkly, and started to drag Chara backwards. As soon as they felt themselves being dragged, they went into automatic escape mode.

They needed to run away. And  _ fast _ .

**_Why don’t I just teleport?_ ** They tried teleporting.

But, it failed.

**_What?_ ** They tried again.

Still, it failed. Then, they realized.

**_I can’t run towards it...that means I can’t teleport!_ ** The realization kicked in, as did their survival instinct.

**_No! No!_ ** They did everything they could, they kicked and bit and clawed, but he had the advantage. They managed to get their arms free, but as soon as they ran, he grabbed them by the feet.

“HELP! SOMEBODY! HELP ME!” Chara screeched at the top of their lungs. “PLEASE! SOMEONE!”

“HEY!” A woman’s voice startled the two of them. Chara spotted her running from across the street. “LET GO OF THEM!” The woman ran up and shoved the old man away from Chara.Chara caught a glimpse of her face, and gasped, bringing their hand to their mouth.

**_Meredith?_ **

“Get out of here, Chara.” Meredith said, not taking her eyes off the man. 

“You know my name…?” Chara panted, reeling from the fear factor of the current situation, along with the fact that Meredith of all people was saving them from this pedophile.

“I said get out of here! I’ll take care of him!” Meredith squared up to fight the man. 

Chara didn’t take a second longer to escape. They ran, as fast as their short legs could carry them, all the way back to the house. They ran past all the trees, bushes, and lightposts they had passed while lost in thought. They hadn’t even realized they had walked so far. They leaned over, putting their hands on their thighs, panting hard.

**_Holy shit…_ ** They looked back up at where they had run from.

**_Meredith just saved me from being raped._ **

* * *

 

_ Like I said, I don’t know even what to think. I know that one incident isn’t enough to recoup for years of abuse. _

_ But...if she didn’t care about me, she would have just left me to that man. Right? Maybe she won’t be nearly as bad as she was before...Maybe she  _ has _ changed. Maybe I should give her another chance. _

_ Maybe I shouldn’t. _

_ I...I just don’t know what to think. _

“Chara!” Chara jolted their head up at Alice’s raised voice. They saw that the girl had a fire in her eyes and was grinding her teeth. She climbed over and sat down next to them, the blankets squishing underneath her.

“Give me that.” Alice snatched their diary and started skimming over it before Chara quickly grasped it back from Alice, who tightened her grip on it as well, causing the two girls to go into a tug-of-war over the diary.

“Give it back!” Chara yelped, feeling a fire in their Soul. They pulled the book back from Alice. Alice tugged back, a Determined look on her face as she braced her feet on the bed.

“I can’t believe you! Y-you’re really thinking of staying with her?” She scolded, reading the diary entry as she engaged with Chara. Chara tugged harder, trying to keep Alice from being able to read it.

“She’s better than she was before!” Chara retorted. “She pretty much saved my life. That pedophile we met when looking for Frisk attacked me a couple nights ago. She saved me from him! She’s better now!” 

Tug.

“People don’t change like that!” Alice snapped as she pulled back on the book. Her feet dug into Chara’s bed. “That’s amazing that she saved you, but people don’t just change for the better like that. Living with P-Paul has taught me that!”

“Meredith is  _ nothing _ like Paul.”

“She’s exactly the same.”

“Paul was irredeemable. Meredith  _ is _ redeemable.”

“She’s brainwashing you!” Alice snapped the book back towards herself. “She did that just so that y-you’ll want to live with her!”

“Why would she want to brainwash me?” Chara demanded, pulling the diary. “She saved me from that old man. Who knows what he could have done to me?”

“Because she’s an abusive, c-controlling, manipulative piece of shit, and no matter what she does now, it d-doesn’t. Erase. What. She did. In the past!” Alice tugged harder with each word, until...

RIIIIPPP!   
Alice squeaked as she fell backwards off the bed, grasping one half of the diary in her hands. Chara fell back onto their pillow as well. They looked at the half of their diary they held, then to the half Alice held. The girl was staring back at them, moving her gaze from the diary pages in her hands to Chara’s own, horrified, shocked gaze. They slowly, silently picked up the pages that had fallen out onto the bed, reading over them. This was what happened to their diary.

Their diary, the one thing that had been there for the past few months, the one thing that understood everything they had been feeling, from numbness to suicidal thoughts to finally feeling happy again.

Gone. In an instant. They looked up at Alice, their vision going dark as they suddenly saw her in black and white, her pink Soul glowing brightly outside her body. The girl was shaking, and Chara could only hear dark, creepy music that they recalled from darker times…

* * *

 

*Alice regrets her decisions

FIGHT   ACT  ITEM  MERCY

 

*CHECK    YELL AT

LAUGH   TAKE DIARY

FIGHT   ACT  ITEM  MERCY

 

ALICE LV 1 20/20 HP

 

* * *

“Please, Chara, I-I’m so sorry...I didn’t mean to…” Alice said waveringly. Chara saw tears running down her cheeks.

* * *

 

No attack from Alice.

 

*Alice is crying.

FIGHT   ACT  ITEM  MERCY

 

CHECK    *YELL AT

LAUGH   TAKE DIARY

FIGHT   ACT  ITEM  MERCY

 

*You yell at Alice.

* * *

 

“What the  _ fuck _ were you thinking, Alice!?” Chara snapped at the girl, who whimpered and hid behind the pages of the diary she held.

 

* * *

*She seems scared.

 

No attack again.

 

*You should be ashamed of yourself for yelling at your friend.

*You’re not, are you?

FIGHT   ACT  ITEM  MERCY

 

CHECK    YELL AT

LAUGH   *TAKE DIARY

FIGHT   ACT  ITEM  MERCY

* * *

 

Chara jumped off the bed and landed in front of Alice, who whined and made herself seem even smaller. 

“Give me that.” They barked. Alice yelped and threw it at them.

“Chara, I’m…”  She started, but her voice drifted off.

* * *

 

*You shouldn’t be doing this.

FIGHT  ACT  ITEM   MERCY

 

*SPARE

RUN AWAY

FIGHT  ACT  ITEM   MERCY

* * *

 

“Get out of my room.” Chara’s voice was ice cold. Alice wasted no time running off, not even looking back. Chara looked at the diary pages they had taken from Alice, wondering if this was worth her friendship. Sighing, they put the pages back together as best they could, and set it down on their desk. They jumped into their bed again, their mood soiled. They felt hot, fat tears start to roll down their cheeks silently, as they hoped that one day, soon, Alice could forgive them and that everything would go back to how it had been before Meredith came.

Although, in their heart of hearts, they knew; It would never be the same. 

Nothing would be.


	76. A court case but every time it's about to end things get worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Court time. And things just get worse and worse for the family...

Chapter 76

 

Sans watched as Chara straightened their outfit. Toriel had taken them out a couple days ago to get a new outfit. Chara seemed pretty fine to him, although something was a bit off with them.

Maybe it was the fight that Chara and Alice had had? Probably.

Alice had run downstairs right afterwards crying, saying she had accidentally ripped Chara’s diary.

But, as far as he knew, the two had resolved it as best as two teenagers did.

They refused to talk to each other.

As much as he wished the two would just make up, he decided it was currently more important to worry about the outcome of the trial. He knew that despite everything, Meredith would have the advantage as the legal mother of Chara. All he could hope for was to prove that Meredith had abused Chara.

...He just hoped that Chara would go along with it. Although he had little doubt that Chara would choose their stepmother over him, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that they would do something unexpected.

“You okay, Chara?” He asked them. Their gaze snapped from their dress to Sans. They nodded.

“Just lost in thought,” They said, their voice a bit high pitched. Sans tilted his head. “Excuse me.” Chara walked off to examine a plant that was next to the doors to the courtroom. Sans frowned and walked back the lounge where Toriel was watching Frisk and Asriel talk in sign language, Mila, who was sitting in her lap, and Alice, who was frowning and sitting next to Toriel and Mila. Alice and Toriel both looked up when Sans walked up.

“Tori, do you think there’s something off about Chara?” Sans asked the mother goat. She frowned, looking down at Mila, who tugged at Toriel’s ear. Toriel winced and pulled her ear away from the child. Mila giggled.

“Mila, that hurts. Please don’t do that, my child,” Toriel gently scolded her. “I’m not sure, Sans.. I have an odd feeling that they are going to do something terrible.”

“At this point, I don’t d-doubt they will,” Alice muttered.

“Alice! Don’t say that,” Toriel told the girl firmly. Alice pouted and crossed her arms, glaring across the room at Chara. Mila babbled a bit, and signed something that Sans couldn’t catch.

“They’re scary w-when they yell,” She commented. Sans walked over to the other side of her and sat down, noting the roughness of the pillows. He put his arm around her, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry they yelled at you,” Sans sighed. “And this is no excuse, but they’re under quite a bit of stress right now. I mean, Meredith was their abusive stepmother, and she’s back now, even though they thought she was dead.”

“Yeah,” Alice sighed. “And something e-else happened, too. They’re very confused.”

“What happened?” Sans asked.

“Do you remember that creepy old m-man when we were looking for Frisk?”

“Yes, why?” Sans felt a chill go down his spine as he mentally shivered.

**_Why do I have a bad feeling about where this is going?_ **

“They wrote about him in their diary. I g-guess he attacked them and Meredith saved them.” Sans sat up suddenly, startling Alice, who quickly moved off of him. Toriel looked over in shock.

“...Really now?” Sans asked as the fire in Toriel’s eyes brightened. She growled.

“Yep,” Alice replied, nodding her head. She brought her hand to her mouth, suddenly thinking. “Are they in trouble?” She whispered.

“Maybe. Did you read anything else?” Sans tilted his head.

“Well…” Alice frowned. At that moment, Mila rolled off of Toriel’s lap and started crying.

“Oh, Mila! Why’d you do that?” Toriel yelped, standing up.

“Handy towd me to,” Mila blabbered through her tears and signed. Toriel sighed.

“Handy, that isn’t very nice!” She scolded the imaginary friend. “Excuse me, Sans and Alice.” She hurriedly scooped up the baby and ran off. Sans frowned, staring off at the two.

“Is Mila okay?” Alice questioned.

“I hope so.” Sans got up as well. “Tori, do you need help?”   
“I’m fine!” Toriel called back, still walking off with a crying Mila.

“Alright,” Sans replied, sitting back down. “So, what else did Chara write?”   
“They b-basically said that they’re not sure Meredith is such a bad person after all. And, that they w-want to give her a second chance.” Alice revealed. Sans felt his heart sink as his mouth dropped.

**_What?_ **

“They’re making a huge mistake.” Sans stood up and started to walk towards where Chara was standing, by the vending machines.

“They’re not gonna listen t-to either of us.” Alice pointed out. Sans stopped and sighed.

“I have to try,” Sans replied sternly. He continued walking, but was stopped by a bailiff.

“Mr. Dreemurr, the trial is starting.”

“Excuse me sir, I just have to talk to my kid-”

“It can wait until after this case is settled,” The bailiff interrupted. Sans sighed again.

“Very well.” He nodded, and walked into the courtroom. He sat down at the table in front of where Toriel, Asriel, Frisk, and Alice, who was holding Mila, were sitting. Mila was frowning and reaching towards where Chara was sitting, next to Sans. 

“Shh, Mila, no, you c-can’t.” Alice said quietly.

“All rise for Judge Moody.” Everyone stood up as the judge walked down the hall to the judge’s chair.

“Alright, I will read the details of this case now,” She announced. “This is a custody case for the custody of Charlotte Breiner-Dreemurr.”

“Just Chara please, your Honor,” Chara spoke up, sighing.

“Alrighty. Chara Breiner-Dreemurr,” Judge Moody corrected herself. “Sorry, darling. The child in particular has lived with the Dreemurr family for several months after having gone missing at the age of 7. In the meantime, the child’s stepmother was institutionalized after the murder of her son, in which she was deemed too unstable to go under trial despite a plea of Not Guilty. She was deemed sane about 10 months ago.”

“The Dreemurr family has no biological ties to Chara,” Meredith’s lawyer said. “Despite Mrs. Breiner’s institutionalizations, she is the only family that they have that is living or non currently imprisoned.”

“Objection.” Sans’ lawyer looked across the room. “Your Honor, Mrs. Breiner is the child’s stepmother, not biological mother.”

“Mrs. Breiner is still Chara’s family. Overruled,” Judge Moody said. “Please continue.” She added to Meredith’s lawyer.

“Thank you. There is also the fact that Chara is a human child, living with Monster parents. One has to wonder if they are getting proper care. After all, look at how skinny Chara is.” He nodded at Chara, who frowned and looked down.

“Do you have anything to say about this, Mr. Dreemurr?” Judge Moody asked.

“Your Honor, if I may?” Sans’ lawyer asked. At the judge’s nod, He stood up and presented a file. “This is a case from 8 months ago involving the children of this family, as well as one Alexander Walkins-Smith. All 5 children were kidnapped by the late Paul Scott, who is the biological father of Alice Dreemurr. In this case, the children were all tortured. I’ll spare you the details.” He looked back at the family, in which the kids were all frowning. “In this case, to defend one of the other kids, Chara stabbed and killed Mr. Scott. It was deemed to be in defense of others. Regardless of the outcome, the event traumatized them deeply and caused them to go into an anorexic state.” The lawyer nodded. “They are currently in recovery. This is why Chara is so skinny. Thank you.” He bowed his head to the judge and sat down. The courtroom went into chatter.

“Your Honor, they have no proof of this.”  Meredith’s lawyer started.

“Objection. Here we have a psychoanalysis done on Chara by their therapist, who confirmed the cause of their anorexia to be PTSD.”

“This is accepted into the Court.” Judge Moody nodded. “You were saying?” She looked to Meredith’s lawyer, who was hesitating. Sans smirked.

**_We’ve got this in the bag._ **

“Even still, there is one matter. Your family does not have legal custody of the child,” Judge Moody reported. “Looking at Chara’s legal files, they do not have any papers dictating that custody is anything other than to their stepmother.”

“Your Honor, please look at their birth certificate,” Sans asked. “Specifically, their birth date.”

“Hmmm….they were born on September 9th, 2008,” Judge Moody read. “How old is the child?”   
“The child should be turning 23 in a week, your Honor.” Sans said. 

“23? And this is a custody case?” The judge sighed. “Jesus, why are people like this? The child is a legal adult. We shouldn’t even be having this case.”

Sans straightened up. This was the ace up his sleeve. He looked over to Meredith and smirked, knowing she was defeated.

But Meredith just smiled back. Like she knew something he didn’t.

**_I have a bad feeling all of a sudden..._ **

“Ahem. Anyways, this case is dissmissed. Court is adj-”

“Hold on on second, your Honor!” Everyone looked at the small child next to Sans in shock.

“Yes, Chara?” Judge Moody asked.

“Your honor, I guess technically, I am 22.” Chara started. They coughed. “But, I have something to say about that.” Sans felt his heart drop.

**_Chara, don’t do this..._ **

“Go ahead, darling.” Judge Moody nodded.

“I promise this is true, even if you don’t want to believe me, but I died when I was 11. It was in 2018.” Chara began. “I fell Underground at age 7 after I ran away, and then died at age 11 because I accidentally ate buttercups.”

“Underground? Where the monsters lived?” Judge Moody raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, your honor. Due to magic, I came back to life at the same age I fell.” Chara explained. “Even though there is no death certificate, you can do whatever testing you want on me. I’m physically and mentally 11 years old.” The judge seemed to be considering something.

“Hold on one sec. Your Honor, may we please have a quick recess? I want to talk to Chara about what they’re saying.” Sans asked.

“Is it true?” The Judge asked.

“I want to confirm it.” Sans lied, feeling a bit bad.

“Very well. I’ll give you a 15 minute recess, hun.” The Judge granted. “Court is adjourned.” As soon as she said that, the courtroom burst into chatter while Sans grabbed Chara by the arm.

“Come with me,” He said as he brought them into the lobby. He turned to face them, an annoyed look on both of their faces.

“Chara. What the fuck?” Sans demanded. “What are you trying to do?”   
“I’m trying to get everything right with this case,” Chara snapped. “They think I’m in my 20’s. Do you really think I want to live where I’m legally twice as old as I actually am?”

“No. I don’t think that’s the issue at all.” Sans poked them with his finger. “I think you’re just trying to get into a custody case.”

“So what if I am?” Chara asked, crossing their arms and turning away. “What does it matter to  _ you _ ?”

“It matters because I think of you as a kid- no,  _ my _ kid.” Sans took a breath, trying to keep himself from crying at the thought of Chara going where he thought they were. “Do you even know what you’re getting into here? You’re dealing a wild card.”

“Is this about Meredith? Not you too,” Chara asked over their shoulder. “I already got that lecture from Alice.”

“Yes, and you’re getting it again,” Sans retorted angrily. “We’re lecturing you because we care about you. Do you know what Meredith has done?”

“Yes, I do. In fact, I was there.” That stung Sans like a slap in the face.

**_Was that what was so painful for them to remember?_ **

“Then you know what she’s capable of?”   
“Obviously.” Chara turned back around and leaned onto one hip.

“Then why are you trying to get into the custody case?” Sans leaned in to Chara. “You’re not planning on going back to her again, are you?” His voice cracked. Chara pretended not to hear. They let out a breath.

“She’s changed.” Chara rolled their eyes. “She saved my life.”

“Yes, she did. But that doesn’t mean that she cares about you.” Sans paused. “Look, Paul didn’t want Alice to get hurt. That’s why he kept her in the house all the time and why he went to all the trouble looking for her. But he also abused her. Meredith is probably the same way.”

“Don’t compare them!” Chara snapped, anger in their red eyes. “They’re not the same!”   
“But they are. And you know it. You just don’t want to admit it to yourself.” Sans sighed, hesitating. He put his hand on Chara’s shoulder. They looked up into his eyes as he said, “You can make your own decisions. But I just want you to be fully informed on what your decisions mean.” He took his hand off their shoulder and walked past them, stopping a bit away and turning around. They were still standing there, facing the same direction they had been when he was talking to them, although he noticed they were looking down now. Taking a breath, he added, “I’ll see you in the courtroom. Before you go with Meredith, say goodbye to the rest of us.” 

And with that, he walked off to find the rest of his family, leaving Chara alone to think.

* * *

“All rise for Judge Moody.” The bailiff announced as everyone stood back up for the judge as she walked to the judge’s platform.

“Alright, now where were we, y’all?” Judge Moody asked.

“We were at Chara thinking they were 11,” Meredith’s lawyer replied.

“Yep.” Chara put their hands on their hips.

“I can confirm, your Honor.” Sans said emotionlessly. “They did die and come back to life. In fact, I was the one who brought them back to life.”

“Really? I’m curious as to how.” Judge Moody asked.

“Us monsters, we have magic. Chara was dead and hanging onto their sibling, Frisk’s, Soul to exist. I used my magic to separate the two, and Chara was brought back to life as a person,” Sans explained. Chara looked at him in surprise. He signed to them under the table.

_ I’m just confirming this because it’s what you want. You’re not getting anywhere if I don’t. Besides, you don’t want to be a 20 year old, right? _ Chara nodded.

“Anyways, let’s continue with this.” Sans nodded to his lawyer. Meredith was staring at them, trying to figure out what he was doing.

“Very well.” Sans’ lawyer stood up. “Your honor, my client would like to present reasons why he would be good for custody and not the stepmother. One of these reasons is that he has never been convicted of a crime or institutionalized.”

“Objection. He has been brought up on criminal crimes. He was accused of kidnapping and assault.” Meredith’s lawyer brought up.

“He was not convicted, though,” Sans’ lawyer argued.

“And my client has been deemed mentally sane.” Meredith’s lawyer pointed out. “End of this argument.”

“Alright.” Sans’ lawyer filed his papers. Sans noticed he was sweating.

“Your Honor, may I?” Sans asked. 

“Go ahead, hun.” The judge nodded. 

“I would like to give a good reason for Chara’s custody to  _ not _ go to Meredith. Chara has told me themselves, as well as a couple of other people, that they were abused by Meredith.” Sans revealed as the courtroom was enveloped in a surprised silence. Everyone started looking at each other.

“Do you have any proof to follow up these claims, hun?” Judge Moody raised an eyebrow. “Because it ain’t gonna end well for you if you don’t.”

“Yep. Chara?” Sans turned to Chara, who held out their scarred arms for the court to see. “Your Honor, I would like to say that these scars were caused by their stepmother.”

“Those look like self-harm scars to me,” Judge Moody deadpanned, looking at Sans through half-closed eyes.

“Your Honor, may I?” Meredith spoke for the first time, standing up. Judge Moody nodded.

“Yes, go ahead, sweetie.” The judge nodded.

“I want to say that I have done terrible things in the past,” She coughed. “Obviously. I went to prison for it. But I promise you, I loved this child as if they were my own. I loved both my children.” She took a breath. “I was admitted to an institution for Antisocial Personality Disorder. When I was having one of my fits of anger, I...I did some terrible things. I did kill my son, and I did hurt Chara. I refused to admit I had issues, but as the trial went on, the judge noticed something was off. I was sent to an institution for therapy and treatment.” Meredith hesitated. “I will never go back to where I was. It’s been years since I had a fit like that. I even have the paperwork saying that I am mentally sane enough for everyday life.” Meredith nodded to her lawyer, who pulled out the paperwork to give to the judge. She read over and relented, saying,

“This does indeed say you are stable enough for daily life.” 

“And I will say one more thing.” Meredith pointed across the room to Chara. “I did not do that to them.” 

“Thank you, Meredith.” The judge nodded as the woman took her seat. “Anything you would like to say to that, Chara?” Chara hesitated.

All eyes were on them. Sans, the judge, the lawyers, their family, everyone in the courtroom.

Except for one. Because, unbeknownst to all others, Meredith was the only person who  knew exactly what they were going to do. She leaned back in her chair a bit and closed her eyes and grimaced, waiting to hear what they were going to say.

“...She’s right.” A small gasp echoed their voice, as Meredith sat up in shock. Sans felt his jaw slack. 

He knew it. He looked behind him into the audience, seeing a horrified, betrayed-looking Toriel, staring at the back of Chara’s head. Asriel and Frisk had both brought their hands to their mouth as Asriel looked down. Alice was hugging a confused looking Mila, her face buried into the goat’s fluffy head. Her body was moving in such a way that Sans could tell she was crying into his daughter’s head.

“Huh. My apologies, your Honor,” Sans’ voice was quiet as he apologized to the judge. “but it seems that my assumptions were wrong.”

“False accusations are nothing to throw around, hun.” Judge Moody warned. “It’ll be investigated in a few days regardless. But since you truly believed that this was happening, no harm will come to you.” The Judge banged her gavel. “However, this is still a custody case. I must make a decision. In this case, I announce that since there is no proof that Mrs. Breiner is unfit to parent. Therefore, I announce that custody of the child will go to the stepmother.” Judge Moody smacked her gavel.

Sans was shocked. 

**_After everything that’s been brought up, Meredith is still getting custody?_ **

“This case is now over.” The judge brought up her gavel, over the sight of a confused, conflicted-looking Chara, a defeated monster/human family, and a smug, smiling Meredith.

“Court is adjourned.”

* * *

Shortly after the trial went by REALLY fast for Chara. They were tossed from the whirlwind of the Courtroom, from the glares from people to the full out yelling from others.

In the turmoil, they couldn’t find the Dreemurr family.

And now, they were in the back of Meredith’s car, and Meredith was chatting with them. Normally. As if their past had never occurred. Meredith was talking about shopping or something, but Chara wasn’t listening. They were already missing their family.

And...Frisk! They had completely forgotten about Frisk. They relied on Frisk to live. Chara sat up. They needed to leave.

“Um, Meredith? I need to do something.” Chara interuppted her. She pulled into a driveway.

“Really?” Meredith pouted. “We just got here.”

“I really,  _ really _ , need to go.” Chara explained.

“At least drop your stuff off at the house, first.” Meredith unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.

“I…” Chara hesitated. 

Something was off in Meredith’s tone.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Meredith’s face was smiling as she opened Chara’s door, but her tone was...blank.

There was no other way to describe it. Chara got out of the car, being careful not to touch Meredith, and looked around.

They were in the middle of nowhere. The destruction around them quickly hit them.

They were alone, in the middle of nowhere, with the woman who abused them as a child.

“Come on, let’s go in.” Meredith opened the door to the house. Chara hesitated one more time.

Something was definitely not right here.

But still, they slowly walked into the house. It was exactly like it had been so many years ago, with everything clean, and not a single thing out of place.

And then, the door shut. They slowly turned around, only for their heart to start beating faster as they came face to face with a sharp, familiar-looking knife. They froze, looking beyond it to see Meredith, a horrific, sadistic, smile on her face.

“Right into my trap.” She spun the knife around, caught it, and put it back in Chara’s face. They took a step back. “Did you really think I changed?” She laughed, a broken, sociopathic laugh. “What an  _ idiot. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Putting this here because I know i'm getting comments about this.
> 
> The reason why Meredith got custody and not the Dreemurrs is because Meredith is human, and the Judge still is worried about monsters taking care of a human child. Also because Meredith is technically Chara's only living family.  
> Also, this is the longest chapter yet :o almost 4000 words.
> 
> See you guys tomorrow when I post the final chapter of Home!
> 
> ~Skater


	77. The End

Chapter 77

 

Chara jumped out of Meredith’s way, taking off towards the living room, looking for a chair or something to hide under.

**_Sans and Alice were right...How could I be so stupid??_ **

“Heh, ‘those are self-harm scars’...how smart of you, Chara.” They heard Meredith chuckle from the other room. “I must say, I never expected someone like you to be so smart.” They dove under the couch as Meredith walked in, surveying the room for signs of the child. She paused, and then slowly took steps towards the couch Chara was under. Chara curled up, trying to figure out what was going on.

They had just vied for custody with the woman who had tried to kill them over Sans.

**_I am a fucking idiot._ **

“Although, I guess it wasn’t technically a lie. Not when you brought it on yourself.” She swung the knife, throwing it so that it landed in the pillow of the couch. Chara had to stop themselves from yelling out in fear.

“You know, you’re not the only one who was fooled by me. You and that stupid court. No, you’re not the only ones.” She giggled like a small child, removing the knife and sitting down on the couch. “That stupid oaf was fooled as well.”

**_Paul?_ **

“He thought he would just get away with killing those kids. Little did he know, that I called the police on his ass.” Meredith threw the knife at the wall all of a sudden, resulting in a huge WACK as the knife stuck. “If I’d had had my way, that little bitch he calls his daughter would be dead in his arms when the cops came.” She got up, grabbed the knife and continued looking for Chara. Chara held their breath and scooted backwards as Meredith’s feet walked past them.

“We had this whole entire plan thought out. He was gonna go after Alice first, then the rest of them. He was  _ supposed _ to leave you to me to kill.” She growled. “But he  _ had _ to get rid of you first. I have no idea how you managed to survive having your throat slit.” She shook her head. “But however you did it, it works well for me.” Meredith stalked around some more. 

Chara’s heart was beating in their chest. They felt sweat collecting on their palms, their breathing get shorter, and the twist in their stomach.

They were gonna die, right here. Meredith was gonna find them and kill them. There was no one to come and save them.

They had cut themselves off from Alice. They didn’t expect her to care. Frisk was going to suffer for the pain Meredith put them through. Asriel and Toriel had looked so betrayed at the trial, after what they had said.

And Sans...they didn’t even need to think about how disappointed he was.

“Y’know, I had a plan. I managed to release Paul from prison. He got me the info I needed to get him out. Along with some other prisoners.” Chara could hear her crack her knuckles. “Although, I had to bring along my little friend here. Y’know, for some extra emphasis. But I got him out. And then, our plan started. I found everything on each child. I found out where they lived, their names...It’s awfully easy to hack into the school system, y’know? That’s how I found out that my darling Chara was alive.” Chara could almost picture the look on Meredith’s face. “I kidnapped them and brought them here. I interrogated them to find out what they liked. I know from personal experience that children don’t like being pushed. So, I made it seem like it was their choice. I gave them cookies, toys, whatever they wanted. I used this to get information about them. Favorite things, music, siblings, whatever. I then gave this information to Paul along with the kids to do as he wished. I just gave him what he wanted- knives, acid, access to water. It was in this very house, in fact. The basement.” Meredith threw a knife at the floor, creating another loud WACK as it hit the ground in front of Chara! Chara flinched and scooted back, realizing that their hiding spot was compromised. 

This entire situation as unimaginable for Chara. They never would have guessed Meredith would come back. they never would have thought she was involved in the incident.

They never would have thought that Meredith would be here, trying to kill them. Meredith leaned down to pick up the knife, and saw Chara hiding under the couch, fear in their large, dilated, glowing red eyes. “There you are, you little bitch!” Chara screamed and crawled as fast as they could away from Meredith. However, the woman instead roughly grabbed them by the ankles and ripped them out from under the couch, Meredith’s long nails digging into their skin. Chara, in a fit of desperation, grabbed at the carpet, but found it was useless, as Meredith just pulled at them hard enough to pull carpet out of the ground. Before they knew it, they were hanging upside down by the feet, facing Meredith, a sadistic smile on her face. Meredith threw them against the wall, stunning the child.

“AAAGH!” Chara screeched as they smacked into the wall. Meredith ran up and stuck a knife into their clothing, sticking them to the wall.

“Heh, I never thought that I’d be doing this.” Meredith chuckled. “I mean, you always were a brat. You and your entire family ruined me!” Chara looked up at her, bracing themselves for the worst.

“If it weren’t for you, I’d have a husband, I’d have a happy family of my own! But no,  _ you _ stressed me out and made me miscarry.” Meredith spat in Chara’s face.

“You miscarried because you’re a shitty mother.” Chara spat back. “And did you ever think that you ruined Daddy and my lives? Daddy’s in prison on a false charge now.”

“And I don’t regret it.” Meredith growled. “And now, to end you.” Chara braced themselves.

For a knife that never came. Chara opened one eye, only to see a frozen Meredith, her Soul turned a deep blue. Beyond her, Chara saw the outline of a bulky skeleton.

“So...you think you can just take my kid and try to murder them, huh?”

* * *

 

Sans felt himself go into battle mode. He saw his own stats, and Meredith beyond him in black and white.

 

SANS 1/1 HP

 

He looked up at his options for Meredith.

 

*This bitch...

FIGHT ACT ITEM SPARE

 

*SURPRISE ATTACK

FIGHT ACT ITEM SPARE

 

“So, you really think you can just waltz into their life and just fuck them up?” Sans asked. “You think you have the right to do that to them again?” He coughed. “Y’know, it’s a beautiful day out. I could’ve sworn I heard some birds chirping on my way over here. I saw a couple flowers blooming as well. But, do you know what I wish I could see?” He asked as his eyes went dark and the attack screen popped up in front of him and Meredith.

“ _ You burning in hell. _ ” He hissed as he changed Meredith’s Soul to blue again. He slammed her up into the floor, and then made her dodge the bone attacks he threw at her. he then summoned some blasters, and blasted at her Soul with some Gaster Blasters. Meredith was leaning down on one knee, one eye closed, still glaring at him. She growled.

“Do you have any idea what I am capable of!?” Meredith bellowed, throwing a knife at Sans, who dodged it with ease.

“Of course I do,” Sans replied. He shot another attack at her, this time of bones, some blue, some white. She dodged them, losing some HP due to moving through the blue.

“Do you know what I’ve done?” Meredith cackled. “I’ve done so much more than it seems.”

“I bet you did.” He waited while she threw another knife, only for him to dodge once more. He attacked, throwing more bones for Meredith to jump through.

“I’ve kidnapped. I’ve murdered. I’ve broken apart whole families.” Meredith spat. “I almost did it again. I almost killed Chara.” She laughed unstabily. “I was the mastermind behind everything here. 

“Were you the one who kidnapped Mila?” Sans realized, pausing.

“Of course I was.” Meredith smiled back, a horrible, evil, flawless, smile. “Did you expect that brainless dick to do that? No.” She shook her head. “He’s not able to handle magic.” And in Sans’ shocked state, she threw another knife. He realized almost too late, and moved out of the way via teleportation, popping up behind her. He shot some more bones at her to dodge.

“And speaking of magic, I got these handy dandy cuffs.” She uncuffed her sleeves, revealing more of the silver cuffs. Chara gasped in shock at the sight of them.

“Sans! Watch out!” Chara yelled. He watched as she hit the bones on her cuffs and, to his horror, they shot back at him. He teleported out of the way once more, grabbing Chara to make sure they didn’t get hit either. He found himself and Chara on the other side of the living room, behind a couch.

“Stay here.” He ordered them, shoving them under the couch. He stood back up and froze Meredith’s Soul, then threw her across the room. “You bitch!”

“Ah, anger. The downfall of all.” Meredith shook her head. “You know, I didn’t think Paul was too bad a person. I met him when he was in prison in the UK, for involuntary manslaughter of his wife. Ironically, we have the same name. Meredith.” She deflected another attack. Sans dodged that as well as an attack from Meredith.

“Like I said, anger was his downfall. Of course, when I talked to him,” Meredith blocked another one of Sans’ attacks, then dodged some more bones. She fell down in front of Chara’s hiding spot. “He was angry. Angry that he was caught. He would have killed Alice way back when, if he hadn’t been caught burying his wife. I found him when I was in my mental institution. I got sent to one in the UK, it was also part of the prison. We had a couple nice chats. Made some plans. He’s just as crazy as I am, if not moreso.” Meredith’s smile was from ear to ear as she spoke about Paul. “He told me that he planned to escape to the U.S. Find Alice, and head off on the nearest boat to the U.S he could. He did it. I stayed put. I had my own plans. I got letters from him under a fake name. I sent some back. Back and forth. Back and forth. All we had to do was wait until I got out, then he was going to kill Alice and we’d run off to somewhere. We didn’t have any plans after that.” Her smile changed all of a sudden to a scowl as she shot daggers at Sans. Both literally and figuratively.

“But then,  _ you _ stepped in. You ruined our plans by realizing Alice’s situation. You sent him to prison. He managed to break out again, and we teamed up. He had a new plan- to kill Alice and ruin your family. So, I helped out once more. I found as much info on each child as I could, and got familiar with them. In fact, during this info gathering, I found out that my darling Charlotte was, in fact, alive and well. I masked myself as someone they could trust. I was an ice cream person, a couple other odd jobs. I managed to get them to trust me. Then, I took them. Chloroform is very strong. After they woke up, I got a lot more info out of them. Not through torture, I know very well that never works with kids.” Meredith slid under Sans’s bone attacks, and paused while he slammed her Soul around. When it was her turn to attack again, she added,

“I did it with kindness. I gave them cookies. Cake. Whatever they wanted. I then gave this info to Paul to do as he wished with them. God, their screams were so loud, so satisfying…” She had a zoned out look in her eyes and a dazed smile on her face. “And when they dropped dead, he gave them back to me to place their bodies. Carrie was the first to drop. I meant to put her in the same place as everyone else, but I almost got caught. So, I dropped her in the river and left. I placed the others in that fairground, more careful not to get spotted. And then you accused Chara. The best possible situation I never expected would happen.” Meredith threw a knife at Sans. He teleported out of the way once more, and then put his hands on his knees, panting. Meredith added,“And then Chara left to find their tranny friend, and Alice, their sibling, and that flower followed. I followed them, watching carefully to place them in somewhere they couldn’t leave. Unfortunately, that officer got there first. So she had to go.”

“Wait,  _ you _ killed Liliane?” Sans looked up, his mouth agape.

**_I could have sworn Paul did..._ **

“Of course. Paul was in my basement. Downstairs from here, in fact. Although, you already knew that.” Meredith rolled her eyes. “I waited in the shadows for my chance. And as soon as they all realized, it was too late. I knocked out Chara first. Then the tranny. Then their sibling. And when I went to knock out Alice, that flower absorbed that officer’s- Liliane, was it?- Soul. And then we fought for a short amount of time before I knocked him out too.” Meredith giggled. “And lastly, Alice. And of course, you already know what happened in the basement.” She walked up to Sans, who had paused, sweat dripping down his skull. “Aww, are you tired? Don’t worry.”

**_Is this the end for me?_ **  Sans closed his eyes.  **_Of course it is. My fights always_ ** **have** **_ended this way._ **

“It’ll all be over soon.” Meredith raised the knife overhead. Sans braced himself.

For an impact that never came.

“Not on my watch, bitch!” Chara yelled, holding out their left hand as they flashed into black and white, their red Soul standing out alongside Meredith’s now dark blue Soul. Meredith chuckled, not even looking behind her, unable to move.

“And what are you going to be able to do, Charlotte?” Meredith asked. “You’re just a weak, naive, scared, simpleminded little girl. You can’t do anything.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Chara moved their hand so that Meredith was facing them. “I’m not weak, I’m not naive, I’m not scared, I’m not simpleminded. I’m not even a girl anymore.” Chara stood with their head high. Sans had to say, he was very proud of that kid. “So, leave Dad alone. And come after me. I can take the heat, bitch.”

“If you insist.” Meredith chuckled as Chara let her Soul go back to purple. Meredith ran up to them. Chara stood perfectly still, staring her down, as Meredith rammed them into the wall and raised the knife once more to stab them.

Only to be refrozen by Sans.

“And I’m the simpleminded one, huh?” Chara laughed amid the rising sense of panic in their stomach. “I called the police not too long ago. Man, Meredith, talk about stupid.”

“You little- I’m gonna-”

“That’s enough out of you.” Sans also refroze her mouth shut.

And like that, they waited for the cops to come to arrest Meredith.

When they came and dragged Meredith off of Chara, she struggled.

“No! That’s my daughter! I just got her back!” Meredith burst out into tears, her voice cracking. “Please! I love her!”

“Tell that to Judge Moody,” Sans shrugged, putting his arm around a zoned out Chara. The police dragged Meredith out of the house, and the two walked up to the door to watch as Meredith was shoved into the police car, her hands slamming against the window. As they drove off, Sans felt a small movement from Chara. He turned to them and realized they were crying as well.

“Chara? Are you okay?” He asked, worried that they were sad about losing their stepmother. Regardless of how their stepmother acted, he knew that it was hard to just reject a family member like that.

“Okay? I’m better than okay,” Chara told him, their voice high pitched as a slight giggle came out. “Its over. It’s finally over.” Chara looked off at the setting sun, its glorious oranges and reds and blues and purples.

“I’m finally free.”

* * *

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Chara. Happy birthday to you!” The family sung as Chara sat at the table, a large chocolate cake in front of them.

They had been brought back to be reunited with their family the next day, after some questioning from police. Chara had revealed all, even some details they hadn’t revealed to Sans.

Like how they had had to watch their brother die in front of them while they bled out. Even if he didn’t say anything about it, they knew he still got chills down his spine just thinking about it.

But they were back with their family. They had forgiven Alice. After all, the diary was them holding onto the past. They needed to let go of it.

And Alice had given them that chance to let go.

But now, none of it mattered.

It was their birthday, September 9th. They just recalled every last one of their memories of their life reborn from Frisk. Smiling, they looked around at all of the faces. Mettaton. Papyrus. Undyne. Alphys. How they had all supported them in their life, how they couldn’t bear a life without them.

Asgore. Their adoptive father- their first one. How he had taken them in, treated them like a family member. How much they cared about him.

They saw Sans and Toriel, Toriel’s arm around Sans’ shoulder. The two had taken in Chara, made them feel like they were more than their past, more than a mistake.

Asriel. Chara’s best friend. They had spent so much time with him, had so many good memories. They were honestly so happy he was back.

“Up! Up!” They looked down to see Mila reaching her paws up to Chara, asking to be picked up. Everyone chuckled at her cuteness as Chara did so. Chara continued on, going over everyone in their head.

Their small friend group of Alex, Frisk, and Alice. Those three were their best friends, the people they had been through so much with. 

Chara smiled as they felt tears swell up in their eyes, this time from happiness rather than sadness.

Meredith and Paul were gone, both being either dead or awaiting trial, in which they would be found guilty. Chara’d make sure of that. Linda was no longer such a terrible person. Jimmy and the other kids were no longer so horrible. Everything had changed,

They had been right the night Alice destroyed their diary. Nothing was ever going to be the same again.

It was going to be better.

They leaned into the candles, and took a breath as they went to blow them out.

**_To be honest, I don’t really even have a wish. I just want to say how happy I am now. How much everything has changed._ ** They blew out the candles as everyone else cheered.

**_And, that I’m so glad I’m finally home._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys.
> 
> I just want to say, thank you all so much for all of your support and all of your reviews and everything on this story. It really means a lot to me, and not just because this is my first big story that I'm finishing.  
> I'm focusing on improving my mental health, because around this time 2 years ago, I was depressed to the point of being suicidal. I was also on hormone support for health reasons, but it screwed with my emotions and made me suicidal. I've been struggling ever since to get out of that mental spot, and reading your guys' reviews really does help. Even the bad ones. Because, I know that I made people want to comment on things. I know that I made an impact in someone's life. And I can happily say, I am well on my way to recovery from depression.
> 
> I just want to say once more, thank you guys for everything. I can't wait to start on the sequel.  
> I will see you guys then!   
> Love you! xx  
> ~Skater


	78. Update and a notice

**Hey guys.**

 

**So, I want to give you an update on things, and give a notice on something. I’ll give the notice first (I feel like you all will know what I’m talking about)**

**So, there is a story that bears similarities to mine; the first 16 chapters of it are almost exactly the same. Including characters, events, and almost exact lines. The writer says that it is a coincidence; while I find it very unlikely, I am not going to push any further on this. And I don’t want you guys to push it either.**

**As for the writer, I appreciate that you enjoyed this story, and I appreciate your apologies. I’m willing to leave this topic alone if you are.**

**In fact, I’m leaving your name and story out of this chapter for that exact reason. I want the rest of my readers to leave you alone and stop commenting that you copied. As for the rest of my readers, even if they did copy, what’s done is done. They already know that the stories are similar, please leave them alone. I would never want this to turn into a situation where someone might feel bullied, even if that isn’t my reader’s intentions.**

**In any case, I am also giving you an update on Just a Game. I am in the middle of writing the outline, but I have decided to start writing the actual story as well. I don’t expect to be able to finish enough to post before the end of the school year, so expect this story the be posted around mid-June, when I get out of school.**

 

**As always, thank you so much for reading, and I will post a chapter when JaG is up.**

 

**~Skater**


	79. Update p2

**Hey y'all!**

**A little update on things.**

**So, I took my SATs last weekend, and had comp this weekend.**

**I now have more time to work on JaG, as well as a little side project...**

**I'll go into that at some point later.**

**Anyways, I'm almost done with chapter 1 of JaG! I'll post a little blurb at the end of this.**

**I would like to write chapter 1 and 2, and then start uploading the chapters.**

**I'm hoping to finish within the next two weeks, and I'll let y'all know once I'm more certain of the upload date.**

**I'm really sorry for the wait, I've had SATs and competition and I still have ACTs, more competition, and AP testing.**

**But I promise I'll try my hardest to upload.**

**My goal date for uploading is before or on April 5th, which is my birthday! I'll be 17.**

**So yeah, i just wanted to update everyone, now here's the blurb from JaG!**

* * *

 

Chapter 1

 

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Chara. Happy birthday to you!”

Chara closed their eyes and blew out the candles on their birthday cake.

They couldn’t believe that they had made it this far in life. It was their 18th birthday, and they couldn’t be happier.

So much had happened in the last 6 years.

But, they decided to focus on that later. For now, they focused on the little skelegoat sitting on their lap and the four kids sitting around them.

Alice, Alex, Frisk, and Asriel cheered and the rest of the monsters around them applauded. Mila reached up and patted her face.

“Happy burthday!” Mila yelled in their face. Chara chuckled, despite their ringing ears.

“That’s right, Mila.” Chara patted the young skelegoat’s head.

“Here, kiddo, lemme take her from ya,” Sans said as he went to pick up Mila. The little skelegoat struggled, but then relaxed as her father picked her up and put her over his shoulder. She signed something, too fast for Chara to catch.

**_She must be talking to Handy again…_ **

Handy was the imaginary friend of Mila. Although Chara couldn’t say he had the best ideas, Mila enjoyed his company.

Then again, Chara partly wished that Mila would grow out of imaginary friends soon. They knew that it was normal for a six year old, but Handy had done some bad things.

**_Handy hasn’t done anything wrong. Yet. I’ll focus on that later._ **

For now, it was party time.

And what a party it was.


	80. Update on Sequel

**Hey y’all.**

**I’m really sorry for the lack of a sequel.**

**A lot of shit has happened in the past 6 months, and long story short, I haven’t had either the time or emotional/mental stability to write. I’m really sorry for the lack of communication here, I really should have let you all know.**

**For everyone asking about the sequel: It’s coming. I’m almost done with chapter one, and I will update this story when the sequel is out.**

**I’m really sorry for all the delays, it’s really inexcusable for me to have broken that promise.**

**My depression flared back up and whenever I tried to write, I would just get writer’s block.**

**Again, that’s no excuse, and I probably should have told y’all about it so that you wouldn’t have been wondering.**

**I’m going to go back to writing now, I hope y’all have a nice day/afternoon/evening/whatever time it is where you are!**

 

**~Skater**


	81. JAG IS UP

**JAG IS NOW OFFICIALLY UP**   
  
**CLICK ON MY BIO TO READ IT**

**Thank you all so much for all the support! I love you guys <3**

**~Skater**


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